


Devil of Edolas, Soul of The One Magic

by Dumat



Category: Fairy Tail, Naruto
Genre: Edolas, F/F, F/M, Multi, The One Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-07-19 11:45:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 106,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7359973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dumat/pseuds/Dumat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**This story is inspired by Zeroexpo13's story 'Forgotten Fairy'. So, hereby credit and my thanks both for the inspiration and the help in getting me started on this. :)** _

_**This story will heavily revolve around Naruto as in his own adventures and his situation regarding his family. Anyway, this is my first attempt at writing, so without further ado, I hope you'll enjoy it!** _

_**My thanks to Director Maliwan for beta reading this chapter.** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

“Finally, I've had enough of sitting around,” muttered a young man to himself. The man in question stood at about six feet tall and had the appearance of a twenty-years-old. He had spiky, blonde hair and his eyes were the most mesmerizing shade of sapphire blue. He was wearing a black shirt, black pants, dark brown gloves, dark brown sandals and white stirrup socks. Over this, he wore a dark purple, high-collared, long-sleeve mantle that split down the lower half. The lower half of his face was covered by a black mask. He wore a simple, light purple obi **(1)** around his waist. His name was Naruto, but these days he was more commonly known as the 'Devil' amongst other titles, none of them being positive.

He was not originally from Edolas – he was not even from this era. Many years ago, Naruto ended up in Edolas after he got sucked up an inter-dimensional gateway called an Anima. His magic tried to fight the effects of the Anima off, but this only worsened things by catapulting him about a thousand years back into the past as well. He was basically at the wrong place at the wrong time with some bad luck thrown into the mix.

Tonight was an important night to him; it was tonight that a total solar eclipse would occur. It was a very rare phenomena and more importantly, the ideal moment to cast the spell he was about to perform. Under normal circumstances, he would not have been able to muster enough Magic to cast the spell to travel back to Earth Land…back to the future. Now that the sun, moon and earth were perfectly in that particular order, the spiritual flow of nature was distorted, allowing him to use that distortion to his advantage and amplify the power of his spell.

As the moment of the eclipse arrived, Naruto activated his Rinnegan eye magic in his left eye. Ignoring the searing pain in his eyes, he focused on the arch in front of him, willing a time-space portal into existence. Not wanting to waste any more time, he entered the portal and faded from view.

************* Line Break *************

In present-day Earth Land, a portal seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Naruto stepped out of the portal and took in the sight before him. The first thing that caught his attention was the difference between this place and Edolas. The spell he used to travel to Earth Land would transport him to the geographical counterpart of the other world. Whereas the place where Naruto had opened the portal was a desolate wasteland, the same place in Earth Land was filled with nature. Everywhere he looked he saw trees and plant life. His eyes fell on a nearby crossroad and the sign that was present. _'By the feel of the spiritual flow of nature here, this is definitely Earth Land. I have no clue what year it is though_ … _I should head to the nearest settlement and get up to speed before I do anything else,'_ he thought.

With a course of action in mind, he followed the road towards the nearest village until he suddenly found himself surrounded by a group of vulcans. _'Stupid oversized monkeys picked the wrong guy to mess with today,'_ he thought as he shakes his head. He summoned his sword, Muramasa **(2)** in a way that looked like he unsheathed the blade from an invisible sheath. It was a blade that would cut down anything indiscriminately.

The blade – a katana – itself was engraved with a crimson inscription which was incomprehensible to humans, or most other species for that matter. Naruto cast Chidori through his blade, a spell which imbued his blade with lightning, drastically enhancing its sharpness. The Chidori mixed with the energies present in the blade, causing the blade to be enveloped by arcs of crimson lightning **(3)**.

One of the vulcans rushed at Naruto, intent on pulverizing his face with its fist. Ducking underneath the straight attack, Naruto cleanly sliced off the beast's right leg. The vulcan, thrown off balance due to the sudden loss of its appendage, collapsed to the ground, roaring in pain. Naruto followed up by beheading the vulcan right away, ending its life instantly.

He continued his assault by stabbing another vulcan in the heart before it could react, paralyzing the beast with the electrical currents emitted by the blade. As two other vulcans moved in to swing their clubs at Naruto, he kicked the stabbed vulcan off of his sword, blood pouring out of the wound as it fell, and jumped over the incoming pincer attack.

As Naruto descended from his jump another vulcan tried to smash him from behind, only for the blonde to swiftly sidestep the attack and slice off the vulcan's left arm with an immediate downward slash. Blood poured from the amputated limb; another slash right through the waist bisected the vulcan, separating its upper and lower body before it realized what happened.

Wanting to wrap this up quickly, Naruto made a three-hundred-sixty-degree spin, throwing a handful of shuriken with pinpoint precision and considerable force. Each shuriken hit its target straight in the forehead, embedding itself into each vulcan's brain. The group was whittled down to a single vulcan instantly. The last standing vulcan, which happened to be the leader of the group, was now visibly frightened at seeing its kin being slaughtered so effortlessly by this human.

“No! Please! Have mercy!” it pleaded in fear as Naruto slowly walked towards the remaining Vulcan. The blonde ignored its plea as he pointed his blade at the vulcan. **Chidori Sharp Spear** , a spear of lightning extended from the blade, piercing through the lungs of the creature with ease. The lightning blade retracted back to Naruto's sword as the vulcan collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood. Naruto swiped his blade, flicking off the blood before dispelling it. He walked towards the downed vulcan, grabbed its head and, with a snap, broke its neck.

Moving on after having killed the group of vulcans, Naruto arrived at a nearby village soon – in no small part thanks to his use of the Body Flicker Jutsu, a spell which allowed him to move at high speed by vitalizing his body with magic. Naruto's proficiency with the high-speed movement technique was such that, to observers, it would have looked as if he simply faded away from sight. _‘No matter how much I’m getting used to it, using my magic still hurts me…all because of that damned seal!’_ Naruto thought.

It was a bitter reminder of his folly. His defeat at the hands of those two brats and their allies back in Edolas still left a sour taste in his mouth. He was too arrogant and he had paid the price for it: his opponents used an obscure seal to strip him of his power. Not only did it severely limit the amount of Magic he could produce, but even worse, his magic caused him pain. Despite the fact that he had gradually become accustomed to the pain, it became excruciating and even caused him bodily harm when he ‘overexerted’ himself, and hence he avoided the use of larger and more powerful spells unless it was absolutely necessary.

It was unusual for Naruto to be greeted by the sight of people going about their lives without running away from him in terror. Back in Edolas, villages and towns were quite rural and simple. He had not seen an 'urbanized' village like this since his childhood – it was a somewhat nostalgic sight after all this time. As the blonde walked through the market street, his stomach announced its presence rather loudly.

Scanning the road for anywhere to eat, his eyes fell upon a building with a large sign reading 'Ichiraku Ramen'. It was a simple building with a brick wall exterior and overhangs on the front side of the building. The moment Naruto saw the word 'ramen' was the moment his decision to enter the restaurant was made. If anything, Naruto was a sucker for ramen.

He went inside and looked around, spotting a bar in front of an open kitchen alongside many tables where customers could eat their meals. The interior walls were covered by wooden panels, which, together with the soft lighting, created a relaxing atmosphere. Naruto walked up to the bar and ordered a bowl of ramen. Following polite and speedy service, he paid for his ramen and found a place at one of the tables in the corner of the restaurant.

As he was savoring his ramen, his senses picked something up. _‘What do we have here? A trio of mages eh_ _…h_ _ow convenient. I need to get up to speed anyway and this lot can help me get started,’_ he decided. Finishing his ramen, Naruto stealthily followed the trio. Upon closer observation he could discern that the group consisted of two boys and a girl.

The first boy was lean and of average height with a slightly tan skin tone. He had black eyes, spiky pink hair and his canines were abnormally sharp. He was wearing a sleeveless, gold-trimmed, black waistcoat, a similar gold-trimmed, black cloth around his waist that reached his knees, held by a brown belt, white knee-length trousers and black sandals. A thick black wristband adorned his wrist and he wore a scale-patterned scarf around his neck.

The other boy had dark blue eyes, spiky black hair and his body was toned. He was wearing a white coat, dark brown pants, held up by a brown belt and black boots. Besides that, he was wearing a metal bracelet, a chain which looped was attached to the belt loops on the right side of his pants and a necklace, which resembled a sword with a stone in it.

The girl had brown eyes and long, scarlet red hair. Her body was slender and voluptuous and was encased in armor. She was sporting a breastplate which was made from a single piece of metal and bore a cross-shaped emblem. Furthermore, her armor consisted of shoulder-guards, plated gauntlets adorned by feather-shaped ornaments and a waist-guard consisting of two elaborated plates hanging from a simple belt over a smaller thinner pair of plates circling her waist. Besides her armor, she wore a blue skirt and black boots.

Using his magic, Naruto turned himself invisible and stealthily followed the trio. From his brief observations he could tell that the pink-haired boy was carefree and reckless and the black-haired boy was laid-back. If the banter between them was any indication, they had a rivalry going on with each other. The girl was quite reserved and seemed to be in charge of the group.

Once they were out of town with no one in sight, he expertly took out the boys out with a swift chop to the neck each. Before the girl could respond to her companions falling, Naruto activated his Sharingan eye magic and locked eyes with her.

Knocking her out cold with his illusion magic, Naruto proceeded to read her mind for information – information on mages, on guilds, on the magic council, and on anything that would help him familiarize himself with this world. The girl, Erza Scarlet – as he learned she was named – was an S-class mage and part of a guild called Fairy Tail. She and her companions were currently on a mission to investigate Eisenwald, a dark guild.

It was obvious to Naruto that mages in this world were subject to a ridiculous system headed by a corrupt council that decided what was right and wrong. A ridiculous notion as far as he was concerned. It was clear that it would do no good to look for a way to break the seal by going to these guilds – they were unwilling to use any necessary means to accomplish their goals; even if they were willing to, such actions were forbidden by the magic council anyway.

Dark guilds on the other hand? Dark guilds are considered dark because they have little qualms about crossing boundaries after all which meant they could prove useful. He would pay these so-called dark guilds a visit. With some luck, he would find something which could help him break the seal and if he didn't, well…he might pick up some interesting kinds of magic.

Seeing no reason to linger around, he turned around and left.

************* Line Break *************

This dark guild was just one of the many he visited in the past few weeks. During that time, many dark guilds were completely wiped out. Naruto literally left a blood-soaked path of corpses behind while pillaging every guild in his path for anything that would aid him in his quest.

And now, here he stood, in front of yet another guild. It wasn’t a large or powerful guild, but according to the rumors, the members of this guild specialized in espionage. He kicked open the doors and walked into the guild hall. As he entered the hall, the occupants fell deathly quiet. There were only ten mages present, all wearing the same black uniform consisting of a leather bodysuit, combat boots, combat boots, a gas mask and a hood.

From the back of the room a man dressed in a similar black suit and a black trench coat walked through the small crowd. He was bald and his left eye was covered by an eye patch. His visible eye was dark brown. A trio of scars, most likely from a claw swipe, ran diagonally over his face. He greeted the trespassing blonde, “Good evening, stranger. Welcome to this fine guild of ours. We usually don’t receive guests here and I would have you know that you are trespassing, but I’m in a good mood tonight. My name is Hiroyoshi, the master of this guild. Who are you and what brings you here?”

“Who I am does not matter. All you need to know is that I seek…information and if you prove to be as uncooperative as you colleagues, well…your good mood won’t last for long…” Naruto coldly answered.

The guild master's eyes narrowed at hearing this and he visibly shook with rage. “You are just a single man, what makes you think you can threaten us and walk out of here alive?” he threatened before turned to address his men, “Guys, listen up, whoever brings me his head will get double pay on his next three missions!”

“Very well, then you will follow your fellow dark guilds into annihilation,” Naruto ominously said before he made a hand seal and cast the Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu. He expelled a large amount of mist from his mouth, enveloping the entire hall in a thick mist, obscuring everyone's vision.

Disappearing in the mist, Naruto began his assault. He tracked his opponents through his acute sense of hearing. Moving silently behind the mage closest to him, he slit his throat with a kunai, no sound emitted as he dropped the corpse to the floor. He quickly moved on the next mage, snapping his neck and ending his life right away.

As Naruto was about to kill a third mage one of the other mages cast a wind spell, clearing most of the mist. As that happened, Naruto quickly grabbed the mage in front of him and strapped a scrap of paper to the man before throwing him into a group of four mages. This was an explosive tag: a scrap of paper inscribed with a special writing, centering around the kanji for 'explode' that was infused with magic. True to its name, it would explode, turning the dark mage he attached the tag to into a living time bomb.

Shortly after crashing into his fellow guild members, the explosive tag attached to him detonated, killing him and the mages around him, leaving bits and pieces of their body scattered through the hall.

By now, the remaining three mages and guild master were livid, having lost over half their guild members within less than a single minute. One of the mages summoned a bow with Requip Magic to provide long-range support for his two comrades as they activated their own magic and moved in to engage Naruto at close range. Both of the incoming mages had coated their hands with Poison Magic, intending to poison the blonde in hand-to-hand strikes.

As Naruto turned his attention to the incoming assailants, Hiroyoshi used Camouflage Magic to turn himself invisible, intending to attack the blonde from behind. Naruto expertly evaded and parried the strikes of his assailants, taking care not to make contact with their poisoned fists. Hearing the whistling sound of an arrow, he stepped back to dodge the arrow. As he was about to move in to attack the mages in front of him, a blade suddenly protruded from his chest.

“Not so cocky anymore huh, boy? You killed seven of our boys, but this is the end of the line!” Hiroyoshi gloated triumphantly, lifting his camouflage. His grin, however, was short-lived as the blonde in front of him suddenly dissolved into water, revealing itself to be a water clone.

Naruto had hidden himself inside of a shallow water pool he made before the mist was dispelled with the Water Style: Hiding in Water Jutsu, but not before using the Water Clone Jutsu to create a clone made from water to act as a diversion. Naruto knew he was a shadow of his former self and even if these mages were easy pickings, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“What is this?!” Hiroyoshi yelled in surprise and anger, realizing he had been tricked. He frantically looked around, along with the other mages, trying to find out where the blonde went. None of them noticed Naruto suddenly rising up from a pool of water behind the mage with the bow and arrows.

Enhancing his strike by focusing magic into his hand and releasing it with pinpoint timing, Naruto plunged his hand straight through the mage's chest, ripping his heart out along the way. The mage let out a bloodcurdling scream, alerting his comrades. As they turned out, they witnessed Naruto standing behind their comrade with his arm plunged through the man’s chest. The sight alone made their blood run cold.

 _'This man is not just some killer, he’s a monster!'_ a terrified Hiroyoshi thought as Naruto crushed the heart he was holding in his hand and pulled his arm back, letting the mage he just impaled drop dead to the ground as a pool of blood formed beneath him.

Hiroyoshi began shooting a hail of energy bullets made with his Bullet Magic. The other remaining mages followed their master's example and began firing blasts of poison at Naruto. Naruto responded to the incoming assault by making a hand seal. **Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu** , a wall made of water appeared in front of him by condensing the water present in the air, left behind by the fog of the Hidden Mist Jutsu. The wall blocked the incoming projectiles.

Hiroyoshi saw that their attacks were ineffective against the wall and signaled to the mage on his left to charge and jump over the wall while the blonde's vision was obscured. In the meantime, Hiroyoshi began charging up a stronger Bullet Magic spell to take the blonde out permanently.

The mage rushed towards the water wall, but unfortunately for him, Naruto could clearly see him coming and raised the height of the wall as the mage jumped. As the he made contact with the water wall, Naruto made another hand seal. **Lightning Style: Wave of Inspiration** , the wall of water became electrified, electrocuting the mage, making him scream in pain.

As the electrocuted mage fell to the ground, Naruto proceeded to spew a stream of corrosive, liquid acid **(4)** at the other mage and at Hiroyoshi. The scarred guild master managed to evade the attack by swiftly jumping to the side. The other mage was not so fortunate – he was hit straight in the face. He began clawing at his face in agony as the acid was literally melting his flesh.

Hiroyoshi took aim for Naruto and unleashed the spell he was charging. “Die! **All-Piercing Laser Bullet,”** pointing two fingers at the blonde, he released the built up energy in the form of a red laser. It was one of his strongest spells, not just because of its piercing power, but mostly because of its speed. The laser covered the distance in the blink of an eye, but the blonde dodged it as he rushed at the other mage with inhuman speed.

 _'He's fast! No one has ever dodged my All-Piercing Laser Bullet before!'_ Hiroyoshi thought in shock. As he turned around, he saw Naruto grabbing the remaining mage's head by the sides with his hands and split it into two halves before Naruto turned his attention to him, launching him into the wall with a simple roundhouse kick.

Hiroyoshi lay against the wall now, its surface cracked by the force of the collision. He was certain that last kick and the impact against the wall broke several of his ribs. He knew he couldn't win, his mages were killed with ease and he couldn't keep up with the beast in front of him in his current state. Hiroyoshi felt afraid, very afraid.

Naruto approached the cowering man who appeared ready to wet himself. “Are you feeling more cooperative now?” he asked the frightened guild master.

“Off course! Off course! Please don't kill me! I’ll do anything you want, just name it! I have great connections! Just tell me what you want and I can make it happen!” Hiroyoshi pathetically stammered out.

“I am looking for a way to undo a seemingly unbreakable magic seal. You wouldn’t happen to know of anything like that, now would you?” Naruto asked.

“I-I am sorry, bu-but nothing of the sort comes to mind,” Hiroyoshi answered, just low enough to be heard.

“That is not what I wanted to hear,” Naruto responded blankly as he summoned his blade and plunged it into Hiroyoshi's thigh. He channeled lightning through it, electrocuting Hiroyoshi and eliciting pig-like squeals from the man.

“Ahhhhhh! Wait, Wait! I might know what you're looking for!” Hiroyoshi yelled in desperate hope of appeasing the fiend before him.

“Go on, I'm listening,” Naruto said.

“The magic council has something like what you ask for! It's called Face, a magical weapon capable of nullifying all magic across a continent. It's one of their trump cards, along with Etherion if mages were ever to get completely out of hand by neutralizing them,” Hiroyoshi explained.

“Nullifying magic you say? That might just do the trick. Yes, that sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. You have my thanks, human,” Naruto said as he turned his back to the guild master, who released the breath he didn't knew he was holding.

“However, I can't risk you spilling what we just discussed to anyone else. Goodbye,” Naruto suddenly said. As the words left his lips, he turned around and swung his blade, slicing through the guild master's neck. As the severed head fell to the ground, Naruto idly noted the rictus of horror and pain still visible on his victim’s face.

 _'About time I found something useful. I'll have to find out how this Face works and, hopefully, it will work,'_ Naruto thought as he left another wiped out guild behind and continued forward, humming a merry tune along the way. He was definitely in better spirits, for now he had a lead. There was work to be done and if everything went right, then he would finally be rid of the seal.

**End of Chapter**

**======================================================================**

_**A/N:** _

_**(1) For those who don't recognized Naruto's outfit, it's Obito's outfit during the fourth shinobi war before becomes the Ten-Tails jinchuuriki with Kakashi's face mask added.** _

_**(2) The katana he uses has the same design as the Blade of the Archfiend from the Ninja Gaiden series. The inscriptions on the sword are by the way not runes; it's purely ornamental.** _

_**(3) The lightning which envelopes the sword is basically the same as normal lightning chakra flow, except the color is now red. The reason for this is as stated, because the Chidori mixed with the energy of the blade itself. The nature behind this energy will be explained at a later point.** _

_**(4) This acid spell is actually the Wisdom Wolf Decay jutsu.** _

_**Naruto's magic is based of chakra. I wanted to give Naruto powers which were from his namesake's series, but I wrapped them in a Fairy Tail package. The general idea is that chakra is now a type of magic exclusive to Naruto for reasons that will later be revealed. In Fairy Tail, there are other kinds of powers besides magic, like curses. Naruto's chakra magic will be a different power in that sense.** _

_**Naruto's time in Edolas will remain a mystery for now. His actions in Edolas, thousand years ago, will be revealed later in the story.** _

_**I will do my utmost best to keep updating this as much as possible. If I don't manage to update quickly, because life got in the way so to speak, then please keep in mind that I won't abandon this story at any rate.** _

_**Feedback and suggestions are welcome, just refrain from flaming please. :)** _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**My thanks to Director Maliwan for beta reading this chapter.** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

It took some time, but Naruto had finally managed to obtain the locations of the Face bombs, having infiltrated the magic council in order to do so. It wasn't that difficult for him to impersonate members of the council. After all, he had a wide arsenal of magic in his repertoire specifically designed to easily disguise and hide himself. Through his efforts in infiltrating the council, he found out that Face was not a single weapon, but rather a network of 'bombs' that nullify magic within a large radius. It wouldn’t be possible to steal or activate one easily.

The main problem was that Face only nullified magic. Powers, like his own 'magic' and the energies which powered the seal, were not magic in a strict interpretation of the word – he once considered calling it 'chakra', but he had dismissed that thought. Besides, the bombs themselves didn't contain their own power source either and setting them off while experimenting would definitely alert the magic council before he could get any results. He needed to adapt the process to nullify the power of his seal instead.

After several experiments and some destroyed Face bombs, he managed to glean an understanding of how Face worked. His current attempt at nullifying his seal brought him to a clearing near the mountains in northwest Fiore, just outside of the forest where one of the Face bombs was located.

Thanks to a few 'minor mishaps' – which ended up destroying some of the Face bombs as a result of his experiments – the council was alerted of his tampering with their secret weapon and dispatched a squadron of rune knights to bring him in for questioning. It was a minor setback, and so far Naruto opted to just evade the rune knights, choosing the road that offered the least resistance.

 _'I believe I figured out the trick this time, so let's see if I'm right,'_ Naruto thought to himself as he examined the device in front of him. It was one of various attempts to adapt Face. As he was about to activate the device, he sensed people heading his way. He quickly sealed the device away with his magic to ensure his work remained unscathed. Not long after, a group of rune knights entered the clearing.

“Freeze! You are under arrest for the destruction of council property. You're going to surrender to us and the judgement of the magic council!” The commander of the rune knights said in an authoritative tone.

Naruto became annoyed. He was interrupted while being so close to breaking his seal – at least, he believed he was close, but that didn't matter. They interrupted something he considered important and he didn't like that at all. The rune knight commander's tone didn't help either.

“Why ever would I submit to the 'justice' of a corrupt council? Tell your council to come fetch me themselves!” Naruto challenged.

“Reinforcements will soon arrive. If you resist, we will take you in by force!” the commander said. That was it for Naruto. _'I'll have to show them who they are dealing with. Moments like these almost make me start to miss people fleeing in terror of me,'_ he thought as he made a hand seal, causing the rune knights to tense up.

 **Mind Disturbance Dance Performance Jutsu** , nothing seemed to happen until various rune knights suddenly began attacking their own comrades. Their bodies were disconnected from their will as Naruto's magic seeped into their nervous systems, taking control of their every action. Naruto was annoyed, but that didn't mean he felt like dirtying his hands. That, and seeing the council's lapdogs killing each other was slightly amusing.

By the time half of the rune knights had finished themselves off, he could sense reinforcements approaching. This was about to get tedious and Naruto was determined to make an example out of them this time. He would leave a message behind for the magic council to see what happens if they refused to leave him alone.

Naruto extended his shadow towards the remaining rune knights and caught them in his Shadow Imitation Jutsu, immobilizing them. He followed up with earth style magic.

 **Earth Flow Spears** , spikes of earth shot out of the ground, skewering the rune knights. Their skewered bodies were left on display for all to see.

Suddenly, he sensed a powerful presence. “Show yourself!” Naruto demanded of the stranger.

A beautiful woman entered the clearing. Her hair was a fiery shade of red that streamed down her back and framed her beautiful face. Fair skin dominated her complexion, making her violet eyes look even more vibrant. She wore a form-fitting, silk, red battle kimono, which highlighted her feminine features, and ended in the midst of her thighs, further accentuating long, beautiful legs. The kimono was held by a sash and had flame-like motifs which moved with the fabric like flickering flames. Black sandals covered dainty feet. Strapped to her back was a katana with a white handle and a round-shaped tsuba, held in a white sheath. This was Naruto's mother: Kushina Uzumaki.

“You…” Naruto growled in a dangerously low tone at his mother as he felt his anger boiling. His day was just getting worse by the minute.

“Still letting your emotions control you? That's no way to greet your mother, now is it? And here I thought that you might have stopped being such a hopeless case after all these years,” his mother mocked.

Naruto briefly stared at his mother. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that superior-than-thou smirk off of her face, but given the current circumstances, he was feeling somewhat uneasy. He summoned two katanas: Muramasa and Masamune, counterpart to the former. While the design was the same as its unholy counterpart, the inscriptions on the blade were azure blue instead of crimson red. Unlike Muramasa, Masamune was made to cut only that which was wicked – the innocent and undeserving would never taste its razor-sharp edge. He slipped into a combat stance and was about to attack her, until she suddenly started laughing.

“You looked ready to kill me the moment you saw me!” she laughed, before saying, “I guess I really do look like her,” with her smile never leaving her face.

Those words confused Naruto and not just a little bit either. His mother was always cold, distant and cruel to him. The woman in front of him seemed to enjoy teasing and taunting him. This woman was certainly not his mother, despite the physical resemblance.

“Who are you?” Naruto inquired. The woman in front of him ignored him and kept smiling. As he prepared to demand of her identity once more, he was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps, a clear signal of the arrival of more rune knights.

The rune knights ran up to the scene and gasped in horror as they witnessed the sight before them. Their fellow rune knights were either lying dead on the ground or skewered by earthen spikes. The apparent commander of the reinforcements was visibly intent on bringing Naruto to justice for the death of his fellow rune knights and ordered his men to act accordingly.

As Naruto was about to engage the reinforcements, he noticed the redhead's hand twitching. “Stupid humans, always meddling in affairs that do not concern you,” the redhead mumbled with an annoyed look on her face before she brought her hand up.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Fire Blast,”** a blast of golden flames erupted from her hand and incinerated the rune knights, leaving only charred skeletons and ashes behind.

Naruto's eyes went wide, recognizing the magic for what it was. It was god magic, there was no doubt about it. Naruto didn't like the implications of this. He turned his gaze back to the woman in front of him, narrowing his eyes at her. She returned his gaze with a gentle smile of her own.

“Mito. My name is Mito,” the crimson-haired beauty revealed.

“Mito, care to tell where you learned god magic?” Naruto asked, trying to get some answers.

“Why Mother taught me off course,” she answered. As far as he knew, only he and his mother possessed god Magic, so that could mean only one thing. His eyes went wide as the revelation sank in.

Mito smirked, knowing that her brother figured it out. “That's right Naruto-kun, I am your sister!” Mito cheerfully said, only receiving an angry glare from Naruto in return.

“So some poor fool managed to get her attention huh? I'm surprised she could still conceive at all, I mean, she ought to be an old crone by now,” Naruto mused. If Mito was offended, she didn't show it as she was still smiling.

“As a goddess, Mother obtained immortality. After the mistake you came as, she decided to create me and two others without the need for a father. You could say I'm a clone of Mother; raised to be the child she always wanted,” she said without her smile ever leaving her face. The deep disdain her mother held for her older brother was no secret. Her mother had always told her and her siblings about the failure that was her oldest son. Her younger brother, Menma, took his mother's words to heart and shared the same disdain as their mother. She and her younger sister, Natsuko, always felt interested in their unknown brother though.

Naruto frowned at hearing that. He was well aware of his mother's power and he wasn't really surprised to hear what she told his…'siblings' about him, but even after all these years it still hit a nerve.

“Anyway, now that those annoying humans are gone, we can finally spend some time together!” Mito said in a cheery tone, completely opposite from her cold and annoyed behavior towards the late rune knights. In a burst of speed, she appeared right in front of Naruto, staring up, straight into sapphire pools.

 _'She's fast!'_ Naruto thought as he stared down at Mito with caution. Mito took a moment to study his face, before gently caressing his cheeks. If Naruto wasn't feeling uncomfortable already, he was definitely now. He was not familiar with such gestures at all and it unnerved him.

Mito on the other was not as uncomfortable as her brother. She had a feeling in her chest that she never felt before; something she altogether didn't hate, but she did hate not knowing what it was. Standing so close to Naruto, she felt comfort. She didn't understand why her mother hated him so much. All she heard from her mother is how weak he was and how much of an embarrassment and failure he had proven to be.

Her curiosity got the better of her, so she decided she would test him herself, but he was nowhere to be found…until now. If her mother was right, then she would dispose of him personally, regardless of how she would feel about it. She pulled her arm back and golden fire started to surround it. Sensing the danger, Naruto tried to jump back.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Flame Fist!”** a column of flames headed towards Naruto, engulfing him. As the flames passed, Mito saw her brother sporting many burn wounds. This was one of her weaker spells, so she shook her head in disappointment, until Naruto's body was replaced by a log.

 _'A log? Where did he go?'_ Mito thought in surprise. She didn't see Naruto in front of or beside her, so she quickly turned around just in time to see Naruto descend and slash her from shoulder to hip.

Naruto looked up, only to see that across the line of the wound he inflicted on Mito's torso, there was no flesh or blood visible, just fire. He quickly moved back to put some distance between them. “I can turn my body into fire whenever I want. It's a useful ability, don't you think?” Mito said in amusement. The red-head unsheathed her katana and began walking towards Naruto.

Seeing Mito coming towards him with her sword drawn, Naruto quickly went on the defensive as Mito appeared in front of him with her blade held high over her head. He blocked the attack with one of his blades and stab at her with the other, only for Mito to parry his attack in return. Both of them exchanged a series of strikes and parries with equal precision.

Wanting to break the stalemate, Naruto imbued his swords with an enhanced and concentrated version ofChidori, the Lightning Cutter. The spell was named as such after Naruto was once seen splitting a bolt of lightning with it. As crimson red and azure blue arcs of lightning coursed over Muramasa and Masamune respectively, Naruto made a slash right for Mito's blade, intent on electrocuting her and slicing through the katana as well.

Mito realized what Naruto was trying to do and quickly jumped back instead of parrying the attack. As she jumped back, she shot a blast of golden fire at Naruto.

Naruto quickly slammed his hands against the ground. **Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall** , a wall of earth rose in front of him, in order to block the incoming flames. The flames hit the wall, destroying the edges, but the structure ultimately held, fire diverting about the edges.

Seeing this, Mito fired another blast of flames to the left side of the wall while she herself rushed towards the right side. The blast of flames briefly captured Naruto's attention and he turned around, he was met with Mito's knee in his face, slamming him, head-first, hard against the wall he had just created.

As Mito brought up her hand to launch another fire spell at Naruto, another Naruto burst out of the ground, grabbing her spell-casting arm and poised to impale her with his electrified blade. Mito directed the flames left by her previous attack towards Naruto.

As the fire hit him, the Naruto in front of her then revealed himself to be a lightning-infusedShadow Clone, turning into electricity and electrocuting her. “The real one is here!” Naruto shouted as he delivered an upwards kick to her chin and followed up with a vicious back kick, launching Mito backwards.

Mito stood up and brushed the dust off her kimono with her hands. She turned her attention towards her blade, eyes glazed in deep contemplation.

“What are you doing!? Did your mother put you up to this!?” Naruto shouted at Mito while glaring at her, but Mito just remained silent for a moment.

“I'm testing you. And it's OUR mother by the way,” Mito said in a cold and serious tone, confusing Naruto. One moment she was cheery and the next she’s serious – she was definitely bipolar.

“All mother ever told us is how weak you are, how much of a disgrace you are,” Mito said softly as she held her blade over her palm, cutting it and letting blood fall on her blade as she said, “I want to see if what mother said is true. Naruto, show me your full power!”

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger at hearing what his mother has been telling about him. He was broken out of his angry thoughts when he saw the runes on Mito's blade light up, making him tense for whatever is about to happen.

“I've had enough of our warm up. I will show you my full power, but first, let me tell you a short story.”

“Do you know the story of Kagutsuchi?” Mito asked Naruto, who ignored the question. As he continued to stare at her, unease washed over him and it was growing worse by the second.

“Kagutsuchi burned his mother, Izanami as she gave birth to him. Out of grief, Izanagi killed him, cutting him up into eight pieces. He stored these pieces away in eight volcanoes where no mortal could reach them,” Mito told him, regaling the story of Kagutsuchi, “Mother managed to acquire one of Kagutsuchi's remains and merged it with me when I was conceived,” she finished, raising her blade up, making the runes light up even brighter.

“I will live the life that Kagutsuchi could not! I am Mito Uzumaki, Goddess of Fire!” Mito shouted as a huge red magic circle appeared beneath both of them. Naruto jumped back just in time to avoid being incinerated by the pillar of fire that erupted, engulfing Mito and shooting up in the sky.

************* Line Break *************

“Mom, I can't find Mito! She's not in her room or anywhere else in the castle!” A high feminine voice yelled out. The owner of said voice ran into the room and possessed what could be considered an adolescent body that was very developed for her apparent age. She had marine blue hair that was tied in two ponytails and her eyes were violet. She wore white shorts, a black belt with a round, silver buckle, a blue corset top with gold oriental designs, black sandals and a short white leather jacket which was left open. Her outfit was finished off with a black choker around her slender neck to which a tear-shaped aquamarine jewel was attached. This Kushina Uzumaki's youngest daughter: Natsuko.

In the room stood her mother, Kushina, staring at the crystal ball she was holding in her palm with a cold expression. She possessed the same long, fiery red hair, fair skin and violet eyes as Mito, but looked even more beautiful than her daughter. Her features were complimented by the red lipstick and nail polish she wore. She was wearing a long-sleeved, white kimono which was adorned with intricate gold and red lines along its edges.

“She is with your older brother right now,” Kushina told her daughter in her silky voice. Natsuko's expression turned to one of jealousy at hearing this.

“Awww, you finally found Naruto?! I want to meet him too! Can I go to him too?” Natsuko asked her mother, already bouncing from excitement. Kushina just turned her gaze back to the crystal ball and watched as her daughter unleashed her full power.

“No,” Kushina answered coldly, never taking her eyes off the crystal ball. She ignored the whining of her youngest, while being deep in thought.

_'Show me how far you have come by yourself, Naruto. Prove to me that I was right in letting you live_ _…_ _'_

************* Line Break *************

Two large wings made of golden flames extended and unfolded out of the pillar to show their destructive beauty. As the pillar of fire faded away, it revealed a figure which Naruto could only describe as a goddess. She was radiating power that caused Naruto to involuntarily shudder as he remembered his mother once assuming a similar form.

Where Mito stood, was now a woman roughly comparative in size to a vulcan. Her face was hidden behind a golden mask **(1)** , leaving only her glowing, pupil-less violet eyes visible. The mask gave her a statue-like quality as it made her face look like it was carved out of a slab of gold. Her hair was now braided back and had turned into a lustrous golden color. She wore a long white skirt, golden spartan sandals and golden armor, consisting of a breastplate, spaulders and gauntlets. Her katana was replaced by a golden naginata with a dragon's head coiled around the top and a dark red blade shooting out of its open mouth.

“ **This is the true form of a goddess! If you hold back** **, y** **ou. will. die!”** Mito roared with authority as she took off into the air. Fire began to circle around her form before taking the shape of an eastern dragon.

Naruto stared at the form Mito assumed. He felt something he had not felt in a long time: fear. Without his full power freely available to him, he wasn't so sure of his chances of victory. Despite that, he also couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the majestic sight before him. He was wondering if he should use the magic his mother taught him when he was young. He quickly squashed that train of thought as a vision of his mother passed before his eyes.

Naruto closed his eyes and gathered natural energy. It was fortunate that he was skilled enough, even in his current condition, to quickly gather enough natural energy to enter his Sage Mode, a state which empowered his abilities with said gathered energy. He opened his eyes to reveal that they had turned a sulfurous yellow and equally yellow pigmentation appeared around his eyes **(2)**. He ignored the pain that coursed through his body as he entered his Sage Mode. Naruto flowed his enhanced magic through his blades, causing them to radiate more intensely than before.

“ **Why don't you use your god magic, brother?”** Mito asked, her voice booming down at the blonde. Her mother had told her that Naruto was capable of using god magic. She felt slightly disappointed that he wouldn't use it, that he wouldn't use his full power.

“I don't need YOUR mother's magic to prove that I'm strong. I will do this with MY power, not HERS!” Naruto shouted as he faced his sister with his now yellow eyes. Mito, despite being skeptical, looked interested at such a claim.

“ **Very well then. Let's see how your power fares against the might of a goddess!”** Mito spoke in her godly voice as she mentally commanded the dragon to attack Naruto. Naruto did not make any attempt to dodge and held his blades crossed downwards, before slashing towards the incoming dragon in an X-pattern.

Two large electric energy-crescents, one crimson and one azure, were released from the blades, carving straight through the dragon and towards Mito. Mito just held her naginata in front of her. The incoming crescent projectiles split to the sides as they made contact with the blade of the weapon. Mito looked bored and reformed the dragon from the flames with a casual flick of her hand and had them circle around her once more.

 _'Damn it_ _…_ _Sage Mode alone won't cut it, I've got to step up my game!'_ Naruto mentally shouted to himself as he dispelled his blades. The magic he had been using as of late was relatively weak in potency, it was a sliver of its former strength. It would hurt big time, but the situation called for it. His canines sharpened and his eyes turned crimson and became slitted. The pigmentation around his eyes became crimson too; a translucent red shroud of boiling magic enveloped him. It was still less than what he was capable of, but it was the best he could do for now, given the circumstances.

Naruto made a hand seal and aimed his hand at Mito. **Shadow Style: Lightning Dispatch** , a myriad of lightning, formed out of nothingness, shot at Mito. Remaining unfazed, Mito threw her weapon in front of her and made it spin remotely, using her weapon as a lightning rod and deflecting the lightning before summoning it back to her hand.

Naruto quickly wove more hand seals and slammed his palms to the ground. **Earth Style: Sandwich Jutsu** , two huge rock formations rose from the earth on Mito's side before closing in on Mito with tremendous force. Naruto's eyes went wide as saw the rock formations suddenly came to a halt as Mito extended both her arms, holding it back with brute strength.

Snapping his attention back, Naruto created ten shadow clones while Mito was distracted by his previous attack, intent on surrounding Mito and attacking her from all sides. As the clones quickly moved into position, Mito unleashed a blast of fire from both her hands, reducing the rock structures to puddles of molten rock.

 _'If she is a fire goddess, then I'll attack with water style magic!'_ Naruto thought as he and his clones prepared their next attack while Mito destroyed the rock formations. **Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu** , Naruto and his clones spewed out giant water dragons towards Mito, who reshaped her fire dragon into a barrier of flames, looking bored with her brother's assault. The water dragons collided with the flames and were vaporized swiftly – they were almost vaporized on impact!

 _'Damn it! The flames are too intense for both earth and water magic!'_ Naruto grimaced.

“ **Did you really think that you could best my divine flames with ordinary elemental magic?”** Mito mockingly asked her brother. He didn't stand a chance without his god magic and she didn't understand why he would continue attacking her with these paltry spells instead of using the magic their mother taught them.

 _ **'He surrounded me with clones**_ _ **…l**_ _ **et's see how you will deal with being surrounded,'**_ Mito thought as she brought her naginata above her head. The flames from the flame barrier coated her blade as she dived down and plunged the blade into the ground.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Blazing Fortress!”** a ring of fire expanded outward from her, scorching everything around here. Hiding underground was no option – it was too risky; he had already attacked her from below before and he had no doubt that she would see through that trick this time.

Naruto began expelling magic from every pressure point in his body **(3)** while rapidly spinning, creating a rotating shield to defend against the flames: the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. His shield barely held against the flames. Sweat poured down his face, a side-effect of the searing heat cast by the wave of fire that was washing over his shield. Soon after, the ring stopped expanding and shot up, creating an enormous wall of fire. Naruto looked around him, staring at the wall of flames as his breathing picked up due to fatigue and the pain of using this much magic. The blasted seal started taking its toll on him.

 _'Ugh! This is bad. I just expended a lot of magic just to hold those flames back, now my movements are restricted too and I can't shake off this feeling that things are about to get even worse,'_ Naruto thought as he looked up towards Mito, who had taken to the sky once more.

“ **Well big brother, how do you like this arena I made for us? There is no escape, and** **…** **”** she drawled as a dragon of fire came out of the wall and attacked Naruto, going straight for his back. Naruto began streaming magic from his hands and struck the dragon, dispersing its shape.

 _'Shit! She can attack me from all sides now. I hoped I didn't have to use eye magic, but I'm left with no choice,'_ Naruto thought as he gritted his teeth in frustration. His eyes turned white and veins bulged near his temples as he activated his Byakugan eye magic. This particular form of magic granted him three-hundred-sixty degrees of vision and heightened perception, which in conjunction with his magic sensing abilities would help him notice incoming attacks from all sides. Pain erupted in his eyes as he activated the eye magic, but he refused to let that stop him.

The remaining flames of the fire dragon turned into twin lions, which rushed at him from two sides in a pincer attack. Naruto sidestepped as one of the lions tried to slash him. He retaliated by slashing the lion from the side with another magic-enhanced swing of his blade. He quickly ducked as the other lion tried to attack him from behind before dispersing it just like its twin. Despite the fact that he protected his hands with magic, he was still sporting light burn wounds.

With the fire animals gone, Naruto turned his attention to Mito. **Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm** , he released a high-speed palm-thrust, firing a 'vacuum shell' at Mito's vitals. The Byakugan allowed him to target Mito's vitals, despite his difficulty in focusing caused by the pain in his eyes.

As Mito was looking at her brother dealing with her flaming lions, she became confused when she saw him perform a palm-thrust in her direction. Her confusion lasted briefly as an invisible force suddenly slammed into her chest, pushing her back a few meters.

 _'I can't hit her vitals because of her armor_ _…_ _'_ Naruto thought. He gritted his teeth in frustration as he saw how his attack had absolutely no effect on Mito. Said goddess was unfazed, despite being surprised by the attack, and responded by forming more animals out of the fire wall.

Fire falcons descended from the sky as more fire lions stalked towards Naruto. Never diverting his attention away from Mito, he fired vacuum palms at the falcons in order to take them out first, unfortunately they were faster than he had expected. Combined with the fact that Mito now knew he could fire invisible projectiles, it had become more difficult to take her construct out. The falcons maneuvered around the attacks with their speed. Before long, the falcons and newly-formed lions were upon Naruto. The Byakugan was the saving grace which allowed him to avoid being hit, but he couldn't break the stalemate either.

Naruto activated hisLightning Release Magic Mode **(4)**. A shroud of lightning magic wrapped around Naruto's body, enhancing his defenses and electrically stimulating his nervous system, enhancing his reflexes and physical prowess. This allowed for tremendous speed, the kind of speed he needed to get the upper hand against these fire creatures. The lightning shroud merged with Naruto's red shroud, further enhancing its effects.

Naruto formed a blade of electricity in his hand with Chidori Sharp Spear and rushed at the fire creatures. He delivered a barrage of slashes too fast to be seen by an untrained eye and began dispersing them one by one, moving with the speed of a lightning bolt among them. For every animal he took out, two more would replace them, so he extended his blade, slashing it through five falcons and three lions at once.

Mito was surprised to see how fast her brother suddenly moved after activating this lightning shroud of his, but began to grow bored again and decided to shoot blasts of fire at him while she continued to form more fire animals for him to deal with.

 _'I can't keep this up indefinitely! I have to get these animals off my back so I can deal with Mito. My illusion magic is not strong enough to affect her and my current offense can't get past her defense. I will have to create a distraction then,'_ Naruto decided while dodging the animals and the incoming fire blasts. He allowed the creatures to close in on him and unleashed a roar, creating a shock-wave **(5)** that pushed back and dispersed the fire creatures in one fell swoop.

 _'Ugh, that cost me too much magic_ _…_ _I need to finish this soon. I don't know how much longer my body can handle the stress of using this much magic,'_ Naruto thought to himself as he deactivated the Byakugan. Naruto nicked his hand with his canines to draw blood and slammed his palm to the ground. **Summoning Jutsu** , a large formula appeared on the ground and a giant black serpent appeared. Mito stopped attacking for a moment, curious what kind of spell Naruto was going to use.

“ **Milord? What can thisss one do for you?”** the serpent asked Naruto.

“I need you to distract her for me. I'll take care of the rest,” Naruto told the serpent and created a shadow clone which hopped inside its mouth and disguised itself as a scale with theTransformation Jutsu. The serpent he summoned was no ordinary serpent; its scales were fireproof. Naruto only hoped it could stand up to the golden flames.

The serpent went for Mito, who summoned three large dragons from the wall to deal with the serpent her brother summoned. One of the dragons struck at the serpent, blocking its original course, but the snake-like creature didn't seem to be hurt by the heat nor the flames. As the serpent tried to go around the dragon, another dragon wrapped itself around the beast. Mito solidified the fire dragon in order to give it restraining capabilities. The other two dragons circled around the serpent’s head before morphing into a dome. Mito held her arm stretched out, hand wide open before closing it.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Flame Implosion,”** the dome collapsed upon itself, leaving the serpent’s head looking somewhat singed, but other than that it came out unharmed.

“ **You resist the flames of a goddess? That won't save you,”** Mito said before she appeared before the giant serpent with her naginata poised to slice its head off. The serpent tried to move out of the way, but its speed was no match for Mito's. It opened its mouth as she cut its head off cleanly.

Mito turned to face Naruto again as the disguised clone jumped out of the serpent's mouth, its writhing body and detached head fell to the ground. The clone struck against Mito's back with its palm, placing a Flying Thunder God formula on her back. Mito grabbed the clone with her free hand, incinerating it in her grasp.

She turned back around just in time to come face-to-face with Naruto, who closed the distance between him and Mito thanks to the aid of his shroud and the Body Flicker Jutsu. While Mito was occupied with the serpent, Naruto formed a large spinning sphere of magic in his hand – theRasengan. She brought her arm up just in time to block the incoming attack, clashing against the ball of magic with her gauntlet.

The resulting explosion separated the two. Mito examined her armor, seeing that her gauntlet and breastplate were cracked. **“Is this the extent of your own power, brother? Because if that's the case, then I will put an end to this right now!”** she bellowed. She began charging up another spell. A ball of fire formed at the tip of her naginata. She pointed the naginata up to the sky and the ball grew until it was ten times her size.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Supernova!”** Mito fired the fireball at Naruto. Naruto took out one of his kunai which he marked with his Flying Thunder God formula and held it front of him. As the enormous ball of fiery destruction was about to make contact with him, it vanished and reappeared behind Mito, heading towards the sky.

Mito was surprised at seeing her attack disappear just like that and reappear behind her. Not to be outdone, she pulled her hand back as if grabbing the fireball and directed it back towards Naruto. _'Teleporting the fireball to the formula on her back is no use. She'll figure out how I did it if I keep doing it and she'll just keep sending the fireball back at me_ _…_ _'_ Naruto thought as he activated one of his more advanced types of eye magic: the Mangekyo Sharingan. His eyes turned black with a red pinwheel replacing his iris **(6)**. Searing pain – even worse than before – erupted in his eyes as the powerful eye magic was activated.

 _'Time to fight fire with fire!'_ Naruto mentally yelled. He focused his gaze at the incoming fireball. **Amaterasu** , black fire ignited where the incoming fireball was. Blood leaked down Naruto's left eye as he cast the spell.

The black flames consumed the golden flames, turning the fireball black and heading towards Mito. Mito failed to completely dodge the fireball as her right arm was caught on fire while the mass of black fire headed towards the sky. Mito screamed in pain as the flames spread over her arm. ' _ **What is this?! Flames from that can burn mine?! Inconceivable!'**_ she thought in shock, not being able to believe that someone managed to burn her. That had NEVER happened before. While she tried to extinguish the black flames without success, she failed to notice the thunderstorm that was brewing above her in no small part thanks to the flames.

Her ability to turn her body into fire couldn't help her against the black flames. She couldn't control them and the flames would slowly consume her regardless of whether she turned into fire or not. Desperate to stop the flames from spreading, she cut of her arm and created a new arm out of fire. She turned her gaze back to Naruto, who stood there with his hand raised up and enveloped in lightning.

Naruto grimaced as he saw his sister cut of her arm and regenerate it. It took quite some effort to create the necessary circumstances for the spell he was about to use. Fortunately, he needed relatively little magic to perform it. The lightning above them took the shape of a dragon and Naruto brought his hand down. **Kirin** , in a thousandth of a second, the lightning struck Mito, who just noticed this in time to wrap herself in a solidified armor of flame.

The lightning strike sent Mito to the ground with a deafening boom, forming a crater where she crashed into the ground. She slowly stood up, revealing that both her armor and the flame armor were destroyed. Despite that, the lightning strike did not take her out, not by a long shot.

Naruto collapsed to one knee as the pain of using his magic on this scale was finally becoming too much. His magic shroud and his Sage Mode faded away. ' _Ugh! I'm at my limit_ _…a_ _nd she's still standing. In this condition, there's nothing I can throw at her that will take her down_ _…n_ _ever thought I would have to resort to_ _THAT curse,'_ Naruto grimly thought, resolving to put his all in one final gambit. He stood up with great difficulty, ready to face his sister for a final clash.

Mito, on the other hand, took a moment to observe Naruto. The silence was thick enough to cut. **“Look at yourself, Naruto. You look like you are about to collapse. This might have ended different if you were not too stubborn to use the magic Mother has taught you. You disappoint me. Farewell** **…b** **rother,”** Mito said as she appeared in front of Naruto and impaled him through the chest with her naginata.

“Ugh!!” Naruto cried out as he was impaled and spat out a glob of blood. Knowing he had to act now, he grabbed the polearm with both hands and quickly gathered as much magic as he could. His entire being felt like it was on fire, but it was only sheer will that allowed to him to finish the curse.

A victorious smirk formed on Naruto's face before exclaiming “Got you!”

Mito was not expecting this. Realizing he allowed himself to be impaled on purpose, she kicked him off her blade, but it was too late. As Naruto landed on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest, a blood red magic circle appeared beneath her. She tried to move out of the circle's range, but it was too late – she couldn't move.

Naruto pulled through to gather just enough magic to heal the wound he received from being impaled through regeneration **(7)**. As the wound closed, he managed to sit up

Mito's form began to glow bright red. **“What did you do?!”** Mito demanded in panic.

“It’s an old curse…called…the Grip of Murder. It…seals off your magic…from being released…while…incinerating you…from the inside out…with your own power!” Naruto explained between hard, labored breaths.

Mito's eyes went wide as the glow that surrounded her intensified and it looked like she was about to explode. **“Aahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”** she screamed a bloodcurdling scream of agony as unimaginable pain erupted through her body.

When the light faded away, it revealed Mito laying on the ground, transformed back to her normal form. She held her stomach with one hand. She felt weak. That last attack took almost everything out of her and she could barely stand up, but pushed past the pain and did so regardless. She turned to Naruto, who had once more collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. He looked like a mess, simply put.

She slowly walked up to him and took a moment to stare at him in astonishment. He reduced her to this – her! And the wound on his torso, where she had impaled him, was gone as if it never had been there at all! Naruto noticed she was standing before him and he strained himself to look up and meet her gaze. His left eye was closed, with a trail of blood visible from his eye as if he cried tears of blood.

“You're still up…? Damn it…I suppose…I lost this one…” Naruto said between hard gasps for air, solemnly adding in his mind at the prospect of his death, _'I guess this is it_. _At least_ _death is just a setback, but it still sucks_ … _'_ before unconscious claimed him.

 _'He believes he has lost? Sure, I wasn't trying as hard as I could, but still_ _…_ _he did this without Mother's magic,'_ Mito thought in confusion while recalling what Naruto said about his own power. She was feeling that strange feeling in her chest again and felt her face heat up as she saw the serene look on his face. She didn't know what this was, but she couldn't deny that it felt good.

She carefully scooped her brother up in her arms. _'I guess Mother was wrong about you after all, Naruto. Let's go home_ … _'_ she thought as she left towards their home.

************* Line Break *************

Natsuko stared up at Kushina in wonder as the goddess watched her children fight. Kushina's expression suddenly turned into one of surprise.

“Mom, what's going on?” Natsuko asked

“Your brother almost defeated Mito in her goddess form,” Kushina told her youngest daughter, who looked shocked before her expression turned to awe.

“Cool! Now I really wanna meet him!” Natsuko squealed, excited at the prospect of meeting her unknown brother. She left the room with an excited bounce.

“So, you’re bringing him here, Daughter…” Kushina softly muttered to herself. While she was surprised by Naruto knocking Mito out of her transformed state, she was not really impressed by his power. Regardless, she had to give him credit for his confidence in his own power, given the fact he was facing her eldest daughter.

She was certain that Naruto's refusal to use embrace his god magic had nothing to do with magic itself – it had everything to do with the fact she taught him that magic. To reject power over something like that was foolishness in her mind. She did notice something odd during the fight. It looked as if her son's magic was causing him harm, it looked…restricted for lack of better terms. Why her son would choose a hard path over an easier path, by electing to using magic that harms him over god magic puzzled her.

Besides, she did not know what happened in the last forty years since she lost track of Naruto.

' _This whole ordeal raised more questions than answers. I will just watch you for now before I judge you, Naruto,'_ Kushina resolved, having decided on what to do for now with her estranged son.

**End of Chapter**

**======================================================================**

_**A/N:** _

_**(1) The design of the mask is like that of the Regent of the Mask from Ninja Gaiden 3, except the mask is completely golden rather than partially. Furthermore, the shape is a bit more feminine.** _

_**(2) It's basically the same look as toad sage mode, except with a different color shade and without any changes to the eye pupils.** _

_**(3) This merits additional explanation. Mages don't have a circulatory system and tenketsu pressure points. My attempt to adapt chakra concepts into a Fairy Tail setting is by stating that Naruto's physiology is unique, so he has a 'magic circulatory system' with 'magic pressure points' instead. Others don't. For purposes like genjutsu (illusion magic) and stuff like gentle fist and so on. So in order to not make things too complicated, I will not tread into the gritty details too much. Just pretend these techniques can interact with 'normal' mages. ;)** _

_**(4) You'll probably recognize this as the Lightning Release Chakra Mode as it's called in the latest Naruto databook, so I substituted chakra with magic. I refrained from calling it lightning armor because other chakra modes don't have an official English name which includes the word 'armor'. It's a detail and consistency thing...** _

_**(5) For those who don't recognize this, it's the Tailed Beast Shockwave.** _

_**(6) Imagine Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan design here.** _

_**(7) This regeneration ability is similar to the regeneration ability possessed by those with Hashirama's cells.** _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

**My thanks to ncpfan for helping me finetune this story and fleshing things out. :)**

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He felt like he had been gone through the wringer. _'Ugh…wait a minute, where the hell am I?'_ he thought in confusion as he took stock of the sight of the room he was in. He saw nothing but a wooden table, walls of stone and a door. Besides that and the bed he was laying on, the room was empty.

He figured now was as good a time as any to use the nullification device he made to try and nullify his seal. He unsealed the device. _'Okay, here goes nothing!'_ Naruto thought as he activated the device. The device started to glow, but the glow died down just as quickly. For a moment, he felt the seal's energies being nullified, but the effect did not last long enough for him to temper with the seal.

 _'That's a letdown…the device works, but a mere lacrima as power source only nullifies the seal's energies for the briefest of moments. I need a bigger power source…_ ' Naruto thought, annoyed by the failure when he was so close to achieving his goal. He sealed the device away, storing it for later use.

Not much later, a blue-haired girl stormed into the room. “Big brother! You're awake!” the girl squealed excitedly as she glomped onto him…with a little bit too much enthusiasm, launching him back into the bed.

“Ooph!” Naruto wheezed out. This girl had quite a grip! “Hey! Let go of me, will you?!” he yelled, only for the girl to hold him even tighter.

“Nuh-uh! I don't wanna! I have waited a long time to meet you!” she said with a cheshire grin on her cute face.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Naruto sighed, sounding and looking tired.

“I'm Natsuko and I'm your little sister!” Natsuko cheerily answered. She then looked like she had remembered something. “Oh! That reminds me, I should go tell Mito that you're awake,” Natsuko said as she ran off. Not much later, she returned with Mito.

“Finally decided to wake up, Naruto-kun?” Mito merrily asked. Naruto slowly turned his half-lidded gaze towards her.

“Where am I?” Naruto asked.

“You are home off course,” Mito answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Home? What are you talking about?” Naruto asked, not getting what she meant.

“This is our mother's castle, our home,” Mito explained to him, her smile still present.

“You're mistaken, this is not my home. Besides, I will leave as soon as possible anyway,” Naruto responded. Mito frowned as she heard this.

“I don't think so,” Mito said in a serious tone.

Naruto jerked his head towards her. “Excuse me?” Naruto incredulously asked.

“You're not leaving,” Mito said. Naruto gave her a questioning stare at hearing this, silently demanding that she explained why he wouldn't leave this place.

“I will drag you back if you run away. You're going to stay here, whether you like it or not,” Mito flippantly told him, seemingly not caring about the angry look that formed on Naruto's face.

“Wh-what? Why are you doing this?!” Naruto stammered out. He couldn't believe his ears; she was holding him prisoner for all intents or purposes and under his mother's roof no less! Being in the same place as his mother was definitely not something he was looking forward to. The worst part was, in his current condition, he couldn't keep fighting her off. He knew it, she knew it and she had no qualms about taking advantage of that fact.

“Because I can and because I want to,” Mito answered in a firm tone.

“Mito, you're being mean to him!” Natsuko said in a sing-song voice, which earned her a brief glare from her sister.

“That explains nothing!” Naruto angrily snapped at Mito and demanded, “And why the hell would you even want to keep me here?”

Mito gave him a blank stare, but she didn't answer his question.

Naruto sighed in defeat as he realized there was nothing he could do about the situation right now. He reigned in his anger for the time being. Right now, he had to figure out where to acquire a suitable power source for his nullification device.

“Do you have a library around here?” Naruto asked, changing the subject.

“Hmm? Sure,” Mito replied, wondering where the sudden interest came from. “Why do you ask?”

“Just want to look some things up,” Naruto said, feeling no need to explain anything. Perhaps he could find something helpful in their library, that way he would at least spend his time in a somewhat productive way.

“Alright. I'll show you the library, but first you and I have go see Mother,” Mito said. Naruto's mood visibly darkened. His sisters noticed, but made no mention of it.

“Do you really have to, Mito? I barely got to spend any time with Ruto-kun so far!” Natsuko childishly complained to Mito.

Mito turned towards Natsuko, tilting her head slightly. “Why don't you go bother Menma in the meanwhile? You can spend time with Naruto later,” she told her sister coldly. Knowing better than to argue with her big sister, Natsuko sighed and nodded before she left her siblings alone.

“Come. Mother is waiting for us,” Mito said to Naruto before walking out of the room. Naruto tentatively followed her, remaining silent the entire time. Before long they the throne room. Walking through the set of massive doors, Naruto took in his surroundings.

The throne room was large. A path was laid out on the floor by a gold-trimmed red carpet that went all the way to the throne. The floor itself was made up of large, grey stone tiles in the shape of rhombuses. There was a platform at both sides of the room, which were decorated with balustrades at the edges of the platforms. Braziers were placed between the path and the ramps, blazing with golden fire. The back of the room was elevated to the height of the platforms by a set of steps.

Large intricate grey pillars, adorned by golden decorations, were situated on the platforms which eventually widened as they merged with the roof. Each pillar sported two stone protrusions: the lower one carried a candle of golden fire and the upper one held a gargoyle statue. Between the pillars, statues of soldiers were placed and a set of steps lead led to the walls. The steps likewise decorated with the same carpet as the floor was and golden railings were present on the steps from each pillar to the wall. In the middle of the roof, a very large golden chandelier was present, lit by the same golden flames as the braziers and candles.

Large, intricate, arched windows were present on the wall at the sides of the room between the pillars and intricate carvings on the wall. On the wall in the back was a large painting of his mother. To the sides two pillars, which also held a golden candle each and a massive set of red curtains with golden trimming. On both sides of the wall there were also two very large stained glass windows **(1)**.

All things considered, Naruto couldn't help but admit the sight of the room was majestic. The one thing that ruined the sight for him, was the figure sitting on the throne. Looking forward, Naruto saw his mother for the first time since many years. She still had that same cold, stoic expression on her face, although he did notice that she was dressed more elaborately compared to the rather simple style he remembered. He and Mito stopped right before the steps leading to Kushina's throne.

Mito seemed slightly uncomfortable under her mother's scrutinizing gaze as she recalled how her mother bluntly berated her for toying around during her fight with Naruto and nearly getting killed because of that. She was used to always receiving praise from her mother, so she felt quite ashamed to hear her mother sounding disappointed with her.

“Mother, I have returned with Naruto like you asked,” Mito said. Kushina turned her gaze from Mto to Naruto.

“I can see that,” Kushina replied in a cold tone before turning towards Naruto. She studied him for a moment, noting that he looked much more stoic than she remembered him. “I do not approve of my daughter bringing you here and befouling these halls with your presence, but I will let it slide for the time being,” she told Naruto with frost in her voice.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he bristled at his mother's insult. It was as if she intentionally emphasized Mito being her daughter to highlight the fact she did not acknowledge him as her son, as if he wasn't good enough. He did wonder why she would allow him to be here if she didn't want him around, but decided not to open that can of worms for now.

“However, while you are here, I expect proper behavior from you,” Kushina demanded and asked, “Is that clear?”

Naruto snorted at this, refusing to dignify her demand with an answer. Kushina narrowed her eyes before getting off her throne. In the blink of an eye, she appeared right before Naruto and grabbed his shoulder and applied inhuman grip.

Naruto hissed in pain as her grip forced him to his knees. “I will not tolerate your disrespect, Naruto. When I ask you something, I expect you to answer,” Kushina told Naruto. Her tone alone made it feel like the temperature dropped below the freezing point. For good measure, she increased her grip briefly, almost breaking his shoulder blade, and reiterated her question, “So I ask once more, am. I. clear?”

Naruto for his part turned his head up to meet her eyes. His eyes were now slitted and crimson red, meeting her violet eyes with cold anger. “Crystal…I'll play along for now, but make no mistake, you will pay for this…and everything else,” Naruto told Kushina in a low, but ominous tone.

Kushina released her grip and scoffed at that, before leaving the room. Naruto clutched his shoulder with his hand before sending a scalding look in the direction his mother was walking.

Mito shook her head, wondering why her brother acted that way in front of their mother. “Naruto,” Mito said, gaining his attention, “Follow me. I'll show you where our library is.”

Naruto followed her as she headed towards the library with. On the way to the library, they encountered Natsuko along with a young man. He looked very much like Naruto, but his eyes were violet and his hair was black. He was wearing a long, silver buttoned blue coat with three separated coattails with a gold lining around the edges. The cuffs possessed five gold buttoned straps with gold lining each and a white, serpentine pattern ran across the collar, with a snake's head hanging over the coat's left shoulder and its tail slinking down the right, all the way to the bottom of the coat. Underneath the coat he wore a navy blue ascot wrapped around his neck, which hangs over a black, sleeveless vest. His apparel was completed by tan, fingerless gloves, a brown snakeskin belt with a silver buckle, dark green scale-patterned pants, and tall brown boots with two golden buckled straps at the top **(2)**.

“About time you two were done!” Natsuko exclaimed. Menma said nothing and gave Naruto looked at Naruto with condescension. “Menma, introduce to yourself!” she said as she elbowed Menma in his side.

“Pfft! As if I would lower myself so far as to speak to the likes of him. He's nothing but a waste of space,” Menma said, his voice dripping with arrogance. He turned to Mito and said, “I honestly don't get why you brought _him_ here; you should have killed him like the disgrace he is!”

“Menma. Shut up,” Mito frostily told her younger brother bluntly. From time to time, his cocky attitude annoyed her just like now. She didn't like him questioning her decision to take her older brother here.

“Fine,” Menma snorted before walking further along with Natsuko. As they entered the library, Naruto was surprised by the enormous number of bookshelves. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but bookshelves spanning from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. The bookshelves themselves were so tall, that you couldn't reach the upper shelves without the ability to fly or a very long ladder.

Mito noticed her brother's surprise. “Impressive, isn't it?” she asked with a smile, amused by the look on her brother's face, who looked like a kid in a candy story.

“Yes, it is…I'd better get to it then,” Naruto said as he began exploring the library, looking for books on magical power sources.

“Well, I should get going then as well.” Mito said to herself before she turned around and left the library.

Hours later, Naruto was still sitting in the library with multiple books laying in front of him on the table. _'No. That won't do either…I'm starting to feel tired. Maybe I should call it a day for now. I'll continue tomorrow,'_ he thought before putting the books away on the bookshelves and heading towards his room to get some rest.

************* Line Break *************

For the next weeks, Naruto kept repeating his daily routine. Every day, he spent most of his time inside the library as he continues to look for something that can provide the power needed to nullify his seal for long enough. Right now was no exception as he was in the library again. He was dressed in his typical attire, but without his mantle and face mask.

Anything he could find about magical power sources yielded no results. The amount of power needed to nullify the seal was monumental. The seal's energies were partially made up of his own unique magic... magic that was stolen from him years ago. It's the sole reason why the seal is able to do its job and why it nullifying it takes such a monumental amount of power when using normal magic.

Despite his monotone routine, the last week was not exactly uneventful. He made it a point to ignore everyone, especially Menma and Kushina, as much as he could. Menma felt that he was above speaking to the 'likes' of him, so he didn't really have to deal much with his jackass of a little brother. Besides, it was worth the strain on his body to cast subtle illusions to make Menma forget about his presence.

Fortunately, Kushina wasn't interested in dealing with him either. The last thing he needed right now is his mother giving him problems that would distract him from more important matters, such as restoring his power.

Mito visited the library frequently as well, but she was minding her own business though. Natsuko was another story... she had taken a shine to him. It wasn't all bad, but it did intrude on his research time to put it that way. She wasn't at the castle yesterday, so today he could continue his search without distractions. As he was browsing through the library, Naruto suddenly felt a pair of arms around his waist and two soft orbs press into his back. _'Speak of the devil...'_ Naruto thought in annoyance.

Natsuko hugged her brother tightly. “Guess who? You missed me?” Natsuko cheerily asked him as she affectionately nuzzled her face in his neck, further pressing her breasts into his back.

“I can't breathe when you’re doing that!” Naruto exclaimed as his face began to turn an interesting shade of red, because she hugged him rather tight, but also because of his discomfort at her being so physical. He didn't like it when people invaded his physical space. He recalled how that changed since he was brought here.

_**Flashback start** _

After spending hours searching through books, Naruto began to feel frustrated and mentally fatigued. He closed the book he was reading with a loud slam before putting it back on the shelf. _'I'm not getting anywhere! I need to relax a bit before continuing and I suppose a dip in the hot spring wouldn't be that bad either,'_ he thought and left for the castle's hot spring.

Once arriving there, he changed into a pair of blue swimming trunks and entered the hot spring. “Ahh…I could get used to this,” he mused to himself as he allowed himself to relax, feeling the pleasant warmness of the water wash his frustrations away. It had been far too long since he relaxed like now.

While Naruto was bathing, Natsuko and Mito just finished their sparring session and headed for the hot spring as well. They undressed and walked in wearing nothing but a towel. They saw Naruto laying in the pool, with his eyes closed. They dropped their towels. _'Hehe, Naruto looks like he's asleep. Let's wake him up!'_ Natsuko thought mischievously, looking towards her sister who nods at her; it turned out her sister had the same idea. The girls rushed at the pool with the intention of performing a cannonball.

Naruto snapped out of his relaxed state as he heard the noise that his sisters made. He stood up as his head turned towards the source of the noise. He saw Mito making a jump for the pool and Natsuko slipping over a tablet of soap, only to crash straight into him, knocking him back into the water with her.

Time seemed to stand still for both of them as Natsuko accidentally locked lips with Naruto when she crashed into him. It felt like a jolt of electricity went through her as she made contact with her brother's lips. Both of them were stunned as they fell. As they hit the bottom of the pool, they separated and got up. Brother and sister stared at each other, still shocked at what just happened. They could make out their forms quite well despite the steam.

 _'That was just…wow! And he's handsome too…not to mention those eyes…they're so beautiful…I could stare at them all day long. I…I think I'm in love,'_ Natsuko thought as she lost herself in the moment and in her brother's deep blue eyes. She knew that right there and then, she had lost her heart to her brother.

 _'That was my first kiss…'_ Naruto thought as he brushed his lips gently with his hand. _'This feeling…what is this?'_ he wondered. He had never shared a kiss with anyone until now. He felt warm and fuzzy. For a moment, it was like he had forgotten about everything. He didn't know how to deal with this unfamiliar feeling. It frightened him, but he couldn't deny that part of him wanted more.

Mito experienced a pang of jealousy as she watched the entire spectacle unfold. _'Why am I feeling jealous of her?'_

It finally registered with Naruto that these two girls, no…these women before him were in their birthday costumes. He had to fight back a nosebleed as he received an eye full of his sisters' bodies on full display. _'Beautiful…'_ he thought as his face turned as red as Mito's hair. In his embarrassment, Naruto saw only one way to somewhat gracefully handle the situation. A cloud of mist disguised his hasty escape, leaving the two girls to themselves, wondering where their brother had gone.

_**Flashback end** _

Ever since that particular incident, Natsuko wouldn't leave Naruto alone. She took every opportunity she could find to spend time with him. He often found himself suddenly being hugged by his sister without him noticing that she sneaked up on him. After having seen her naked, he felt very nervous with all this close contact. It also didn't help that during a later visit to the hot spring, she just popped up out of the water right beside him before latching on to him.

Ever since he decided to keep his senses up, just so he wouldn't be so spooked. Naruto noticed that she apparently liked spying on him when he was spending time away from the library. He didn't do anything about it though as he felt that evading his sister was too bothersome considering how persistent she was. Well, that's what he told himself at least. He secretly felt somewhat flattered by her antics as well because he wasn't used to others actually wanting to see him; people ran away at the sight of him.

_**Flashback start** _

Naruto was sitting in his room, playing on his flute. His eyes were closed as he focused his senses only on the music itself. Playing music was one of the things which helped him calm down when his frustrations got the better of him, such as his fruitless efforts in finding a way to provide enough power for his nullification device. It felt refreshing to put all those books aside and forget about his troubles for a little while.

Natsuko was standing outside the door, listening to her Naruto's music. She had been following and admiring – although an outsider would call it stalking – her brother ever since the hot spring incident. When he was working his art, he looked so peaceful instead of looking like he carried a huge weight on his shoulders. His melody was enrapturing and seeing her brother like that felt…right; that was the only way she could describe it.

Naruto put his flute away as he finished playing and he noticed his sister's magical signature behind the door. “Are you spying on me again, Natsuko?” he asked without opening his eyes or turning his head towards her. Natsuko was snapped out of her day dreams of her and Naruto dancing to his melody. She quickly scuttled inside Naruto's room, looking innocent with her hands behind her back.

“Mah, Ruto-kun, I was just admiring your music. You make it sound so ugly when you call it spying,” Natsuko pouted. She stopped next to him, took hold of his left arm and looked up to his face with a sweet smile.

“And besides, can you blame a girl for wanting to listen when you start playing, hmm? Your music is beautiful, you know? I could listen to you all day long while you're working your magic,” Natsuko said, batting her eyelashes at him.

“Err…thanks, I guess,” Naruto awkwardly said, not used to receiving compliments.

Natsuko's smile then morphed into a sultry smile. “Although, I'd rather work _my_ magic on you hehe,” Natsuko giggled.

Naruto blushed at what Natsuko was implying and quickly pulled his arm free as his nervousness kicked in full force. Deciding that she teased him enough, Natsuko changed the subject and asked, “Say, a few days ago I saw that you like painting as well. Can you maybe show me some of your work?”

“…I suppose I can do that,” Naruto slowly replied. He unsealed three paintings he had made over the years from his storage seal and let Natsuko take a look at them. Natsuko took her time to study her brother's work. The first painting showed a cherry blossom forest in full bloom, with many foxes gathered near a riverside. The second painting depicted a starry night sky, seen from just above the clouds with the full moon on display. The third and last painting showed a beach that looked like a paradise with the ocean's waves coming towards the beach.

Natsuko was amazed at the beauty and details of her brother's work. “Amazing…” she said under her breath. The edges of Naruto's mouth curled up slightly as he barely caught what his sister said.

At that moment, an idea popped up in Natsuko's head. Naruto missed the lecherous smile that was briefly visible on Natsuko's face. “Say, Naruto-kun? Have you ever painted a portrait of someone before?” she asked innocently as she laid down on his bed on her side.

Naruto arched an eyebrow, wondering where that question came from as he was took a sip from his drink, and answered, “I haven't. Never had a muse.”

“Well, there should be a first time for everything How about I'll be your muse? I have no problem with posing au naturel,” Natsuko told Naruto rather suggestively and winked at him.

Naruto almost choked on his drink. “Don't make jokes like that!” Naruto shouted before reschooling his composure once more and firmly said, “I don't mind you posing for me, but the clothes. stay. on. Got it?”

Natsuko just held her hands up in a placating way. “Alright, alright, have it your way then. No posing undressed it is,” she conceded and added, “Your loss.”

It was less exciting than what she had in mind, but seeing her brother lose his composure like that was funny and besides, she would get to spend time with him up close, without having to watch him from a distance.

Neither of them noticed that someone else also overheard part of their conversation. As Mito passed by Naruto's chamber as she was on the way to the library, she heard her little sister's voice from Naruto's room. She stopped for a moment to hear what her siblings were up to. She was able to make out some words. _'Au natural? Posing? Undressed? That little minx is trying to seduce Naruto-kun! I got to do something before she sinks her claws too deep into him!'_ Mito thought in panic and envy at hearing what her little sister was probably about to do. She had to put a stop to this before it was too late.

Suddenly the door was thrown open hard as Mito barged in. “Natsuko!” Mito roared. “What do you think you're…doing?” Mito demanded. Her heated anger quickly turned into confusion as she saw that Naruto and Natsuko weren't engaged in any activities that would be cause for jealousy on her part.

Naruto and Natsuko turned towards Mito and just blinked a few times in confusion. “What's the matter, Mito?” Natsuko asked innocently, her confusion still evident.

“I just…just…” Mito stammered out in the sudden fury she felt at having misread the situation before shouting, “…just wanted to make sure you weren't doing…stuff!”

“Stuff like…what, exactly?” Natsuko retorted with her tone still innocent.

“You know what stuff!” Mito fired back indignantly, pointing at Natsuko with an accusing finger.

“What exactly gave you the idea that we were doing 'stuff', as you so eloquently put it, in the first place?” Naruto asked warily, hoping to get a straight answer from the volatile redhead in front of him while also trying to bring calm to the situation.

Mito growled in frustration as she seemed unable to answer Naruto's question. She finally cried out in angry resignation before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

 _'What the hell just happened?'_ both Naruto and Natsuko asked themselves before going on with what they were doing.

_**Flashback end** _

He didn't regret accepting his little sister's proposal to make a full body portrait of her. It was slightly awkward at first because he couldn't deny that Natsuko was very attractive as he worked on his painting. Nevertheless, it had been a long time since he enjoyed some company. He began to somewhat enjoy talking to her, telling her some things about himself and she told him about herself in return.

Natsuko even went as far as to declare herself his girlfriend. So while his sister's bold statement freaked him out, it did bring a smile to his face as he remembered that.

_**Flashback start** _

In one of the castle's training rooms, Naruto was practicing with a wooden bo staff with metal tips on each end. Just because he was dedicated to finding a solution to complete his nullification device, did mean he shouldn't make an effort to keep his skills sharp.

He noticed that Natsuko was watching him practice, although he was unaware to her thoughts at that moment. _'Aww, come on! Pull that shirt off already, show me that glistened body already!'_

At that moment, Mito and Menma entered the room. Mito saw her older brother practicing with a bo staff and watched for a little while, taking in how he made his movements look like an art.

“Pfft. Why are you even interested in watching this loser swing around a big stick? Seriously, you shouldn't waste your time on that disgrace,” Menma asked Natsuko with a frown on his face. Natsuko turned her gaze to her other brother looked very annoyed.

“Don't talk about my boyfriend that way again, Menma!” Natsuko snapped at Menma. As she said that, everything went quiet.

 _'What the fuck?!'_ Menma thought, taken aback by his younger sister's words.

 _'Wh-what?! Boyfriend?!'_ Mito mentally roared as her eyes went wide from shock.

 _'B-B-Boyfriend?! I never signed up for that!'_ Naruto mentally screamed, dropping his staff in surprise at hearing Natsuko claiming he's her boyfriend. When he snapped out of his stupor, he shouted, “I'm not your boyfriend!” but his denial fell on deaf ears.

“Why would you even be interested in him?! He's not worth the air he breathes, let alone of our attention!” Menma shouted, unable to believe what he heard and agitated that she would waste her time with the family disgrace while his sister should know better. He turned towards Naruto's direction, scowling at the sight him.

“I warned you not to talk about my Ruto-kun that way,” Natsuko growled as she clenched her fists. She pointed her arms towards Menma with her fist placed over the other and her wrists facing towards one another. **“Sobek's Crocodile Claws!”** She shouted as she launched three pairs of water blasts from her hands. The blasts resembled crocodile heads: the upper blast forming its eye and top jaw while the other forming its bottom jaw.

The first crocodile struck Menma square into his chest, simultaneously biting him and launching him into the wall. As he hit the wall, the other two crocodiles crashed into him as well, biting him in his shoulder and left leg. “Gahh!!” Menma yelled.

With a huff of satisfaction, Natsuko made the water crocodiles 'explode', completely drenching Menma and forcing some of the water into his throat when he opened his mouth to yell at her. Satisfied with her handiwork, she let Menma off, who was bleeding where the crocodiles bit him, soaked from top to bottom and coughing up water.

After he recovered from his coughing fit, he stood up and fired an angry look at her and Naruto before storming off. Mito shook her head at Menma's being his cocky self before glraing at Natsuko and a small, amused smile formed on Naruto's face as he saw Natsuko put Menma in his place. He burned the image of his brother being humiliated in front him into his mind; it was hilarious to him and worth paying gold for.

_**Flashback end** _

Natsuko let go of Naruto, who let out a sigh of relief. “Don't be like that, Naruto-kun. I'm just happy to see you; I really missed you, you know?” she pouted.

Naruto facepalmed. “It was just one day…”

“Which is way too long!” Natsuko rebuked and flashed Naruto a brilliant smile, showing her perfect, pearly white teeth.

“Anyway, I brought ramen with me,” Natsuko told Naruto. After one of their talks when they talked about the foods they liked and disliked, she found out that Naruto didn't just like ramen; he was absolutely hooked on it. It kind of reminded her of her mother. Neither would admit, but both of them loved the stuff.

She would frequently get him some ramen. It never failed to put a genuine smile on his face and she loved seeing him smile. “You've been with your head inside of these books way too long, Naruto-kun. What are you looking for?” Natsuko asked.

“Hmm…that's a story for another time,” Naruto said as he pondered whether to tell her or not.

“Aww, ok,” Natsuko pouted as she heard that, but she relented anyway. “Let's dig in before the food gets cold!” she exclaimed before Naruto and they began eating their meals.

************* Line Break *************

Naruto wasn't the only one who had been spending much time in the library. Ever since their first meeting, Mito experienced unfamiliar feelings when she was around her older brother. Likewise she experienced envy when she saw Natsuko spending time with Naruto. She couldn't explain why she felt like that and it was gnawing at her. During the last weeks, Mito has been looking for answers in her mother's library.

She wanted to learn more about her brother and just like Natsuko, she too had taken to watching him. She enjoyed seeing her brother being carefree instead of so guarded when he played his music or worked on a painting. She enjoyed seeing him work out and after having seen him in the buff in the hot spring, she too lamented the fact he always kept his shirt on.

Eventually she came to a conclusion: she was in love with her older brother. She was attracted to him physically, certainly, but he had a certain charm that just drew her in. It was just such a shame; that side of him was often hidden beneath a cold, bitter, and guarded exterior.

He wasn't weak or an embarrassment like her mother always told her. The memory of what her brother managed to do without his god magic during their fight impressed and fascinated her, considering her own power when transformed. If anything, she only considered her older brother worthy of standing beside her.

Since her epiphany, she tried to connect with Naruto, but that was easier said than done. At best, Naruto was coldly civil around her – he just wouldn't open up to her. On top of that, she had competition for her brother's attention as her as Natsuko was infatuated with Naruto as well. The two of them basically ended up trying to outdo each other on various occasions.

_**Flashback start** _

Mito and Natsuko just entered Naruto's room. They just had an argument after Natsuko had bragged about how much Naruto would like her cooking. One thing led to another and before they knew it, their argument escalated into a cooking match and Naruto would have to act as the judge.

They entered the room and placed the dishes on the table. “Good morning Naruto-kun,” his sisters greeted him.

Naruto got out of his bed and turned to face his sisters and shot them an annoyed glance. “I just finally fell asleep until you two woke me up. What do you want?” Naruto grumbled.

“Well, you see, Natsuko and I had a…dispute of sorts about whose cooking was better and it dawned on us that we need a third party to judge,” Mito explained to Naruto.

“That's where you come in, Ruto-kun. You're gonna be our judge,” Natsuko chimed in.

“I don't see why you've disturbed my sleep for this. I want to go back to sleep. Can't you just go bother Menma?” Naruto bluntly said as he yawned. He didn't appreciate being woken up for this. His sleep was more important than such trivial matters unless it concerned ramen; he would make an exception for that.

“No,” Mito and Natsuko answered bluntly.

 _'Great…they won't let me have my rest until I partake in their silly cooking match,'_ Naruto lamented. “Fine, let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep,” he mumbled. He stepped out of his bed and took place at the table.

Naruto was presented with the first dish of curry. Naruto's sleepy expression morphed into that of a person who just got poisoned as he took a scoop. _'The rice is soft like porridge! The vegetables are uncooked and crisp, like a salad! The meat is raw! And the sauce is bitter and sour! This is a massacre of flavor!'_ Naruto mentally screamed; this was the worst curry he had ever eaten!

“So, what was it you said about how Naruto-kun would love your cooking?” Mito asked Natsuko and shot her sister a smug grin. Natsuko looked horrified at seeing Naruto looking like he was about to faint as if he were poisoned. Her cooking couldn't be THAT bad, could it?

“Now watch carefully. You're about to see how Naruto-kun will enjoy _my_ cooking,” Mito continued, the smug grin never leaving her face.

Naruto moved on to the next curry as he wouldn't try to finish the first one. He hoped this one was at least edible. His hopes were quickly dashed away as he took a scoop of the second curry. Naruto looked like he was about to spew flames without the use of magic. _'Hot! How many peppers did she threw in here?! This one is almost just as bad as the other one!”_ Naruto yelled in his thoughts; his sisters should be forbidden from ever entering a kitchen!

Mito's victorious grin vanished like snow under the morning sun as her dish turned out to be a blunder as well. “So uhm, Naruto-kun…which one is better?” Mito nervously asked Naruto.

Naruto's eyes were shadowed by his hair as he mumbled things like “his sleep being disturbed for this” and “this cooking being criminal”. “Oh, it's a tie, because they are equal…equally horrible.” Naruto began in a deadly calm voice, “How you managed to butcher cooking into poison-making and cook up something like this is beyond me!”

His sisters looked like they had been decked with a sledge hammer. “But I really tried my best,” Natsuko whined as she looked at Naruto with puppy dog eyes, “Can you help me learn how to cook? Please?”

Mito looked aghast at how Natsuko again managed to find an opening to hog Naruto to herself. She wasn't going to be left behind here and besides, if you can't beat them, join them. “What Natsuko meant to ask is if you can help us both learn how to do better?” Mito asked Naruto, hoping that this could give her an opportunity to get to know her older brother better.

“That's n--! Hhhmm!” Natsuko tried to protest as Mito quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

A tick mark formed on Naruto's head. _'I hate it when people use those damned puppy dog eyes, it should be forbidden! Unfortunately for you two, something like that is not going to work on me,'_ he thought. “No, I don't have time for such trivial matters. You're better off just exiling yourselves from the kitchen. Now, kindly get out so I can get some sleep!” Naruto ranted, having had enough of this.

Mito and Natsuko cringed and looked down at how this entire cooking contest turned out, in fact, Natsuko unconsciously formed a rain cloud formed above Natsuko's head as she was brooding. Deciding not to overstay their welcome quickly nodded before scurrying out of the room, leaving Naruto alone, who went back to bed.

_**Flashback end** _

Mito just entered the library again, looking for Naruto. As usual, he was sitting there at the desk with several books in front of him. “Naruto-kun,” Mito greeted him.

“Oh, Mito, it's…you. What brings you here?” Naruto asked as he shifted his attention away from the book he was reading.

“I came to ask you to join me for dinner in two hours,” Mito cheerily asked Naruto.

“That's nice of you, but I'm really too busy here to join you…” Naruto said as he began reciting his excuses for not joining Mito for dinner.

Mito frowned at her brother's attempt to refuse her request. “I insist,” she said, her tone suddenly turning very firm, telling her brother she would not take no for an answer and daring him to object.

Naruto was surprised by this sudden change of tone and suppressed a gulp as an ominous feeling washed over him. “I suppose I could make some time…” Naruto mumbled.

“Excellent! See you at the dining room in two hours then!” Mito said with a face-splitting smile on her face and turned around to leave the library.

************* Line Break *************

After Mito left, Naruto continued scouring the books in the library. He some time left before he to join Mito for dinner. Right now he was reading a book about Ishgar's history. One thing in particular caught his eye. A few years ago, Ishgar was invaded by the Alvarez Empire.

The Alvarez Empire was apparently the result of a merger of 730 guilds from Alakitasia. Their reasons for invading Ishgar were a mystery, but their target was just a single guild: Fairy Tail. If a military unit of that size to target one specific guild, then that would imply that Fairy Tail was hiding something big. Something really big. Perhaps this could be what he needed!

He looked at the clock on the wall. He should get going. Placing the book back on the bookshelf, he left the library. Tonight he would start planning his getaway or his escape depending on what Fairy Tail's hidden secret is.

A half hour later, he entered the dining room. He was dressed in a purple zip up sweatshirt with black stripes, black pants, sandals and he donned a black cape decorated with a red flame-like motive on the bottom edges **(3)**.

The dining room was no less decorated than the rest of the castle. The middle of the floor where the table was placed, was covered by a red carpet which bore intricate patterns. The rest of the floor was covered by royal blue carpet. On one side of the room, there was a large hearth present, burning with a flickering flame that enhanced the room's atmosphere. On the other side of the room, three large windows spanning from the floor to almost the roof provided a great view over the ocean as the castle was located on an island.

Naruto took place on one side of the dining table. He had to say these chairs were as comfortable as they looked intricate.

Five minutes after, Mito entered the room. She wore an elegant, strapless red evening gown which was slit near her left leg and red heels. Her long red hair was styled into wavy curls and her attire was finished with a golden necklace which sported a ruby in the middle. She was wearing red lipstick and nail polish. Naruto couldn't deny that it was a breathtaking sight.

A brilliant smile graced Mito's face as she saw the admiring look her brother gave her. She sat down in front of Naruto, at the other side of the table. “I'm glad you made it, Naruto-kun,” Mito said, gracing her brother with a sweet smile.

“I didn't have much choice. You were…very insistent on me being here,” Naruto spoke with a slight frown. “And I don't understand why.” He whispered under his breath.

Mito caught what he said. “You wouldn't come out of the library otherwise. I just wanted to spend some time with you. Just the two of us,” she said with a gentle smile. Just as she said that, a couple of the castle's servants, dressed like butlers arrived with dinner in tow.

Since his arrival here, Naruto quickly found out that his mother created animated puppets which would act as servants. It wasn't that surprising to him to be honest. For as long as he could remember, his mother had always professed an immense dislike of humans, not much unlike how he has grown to dislike them as well over the years.

The butlers placed dinner on the table. It was a full course dinner and the dining table was filled with dishes. Naruto could make out beef, lamb, pouched salmon, lobster, roast duckling, venison, creamed carrots, pasta, steamed rice, boiled potatoes, asparagus alongside various appetizers and desserts. Two of the butlers then opened a bottle of wine as they filled Naruto's and Mito's glass before leaving the two alone.

This was a first for Naruto. He never dined in a setting like this. Back when he was a child, he had to do with the meager meals his mother made for him and after the day she forced him to run away, he had to get by on whatever he could get his hands on, by whatever means. It was the complete antithesis of the royal luxury his siblings have enjoyed and which he was confronted with now.

An awkward silence hung in the air as both Naruto and Mito didn't know what to say to each other. As they finished their meal in silence. “Is something bothering you, Naruto-kun?” Mito asked, breaking the silence as she noticed that her brother seemed to be deep in thought.

“You could say that…I just don't get it,” Naruto answered.

“Get what?” Mito asked, clearly not getting what Naruto meant.

“I don't understand why you want to spend time with _me_?” Naruto asked, asking the question that has been on his mind for the last weeks.

“Because you interest me,” she answered in a soft tone. That was all she managed to say as she couldn't bring up the courage to tell him about her feelings. She honestly was impressed by what he managed to do without the use of his god magic and she wanted to know what more he could do. That, and because of the way she felt around him, even if she didn't understand her feelings from him at first.

Naruto's eyes narrowed and the temperature seemed to suddenly drop. “So you're forcing me to stay here…to do whatever you want, because I'm some kind of guinea pig to you?” Naruto spoke in a deadly calm voice, not betraying the anger that was welling up inside of him at hearing his sister's grand reason, and sneered, “And then what? You're going to kill me once your interest wanes? I know what you are. You are just like your mother. A cold-blooded wretch who has no qualms about slaying her own kin. You should have just killed me that night instead of putting me through these games of yours.”

“What?! You WANT me to kill you?!” Mito shouted incredulously, taken by surprise at the ugly turn this conversation was taking.

“It beats being imprisoned in the home of that monster you call a mother and being forced to dance to you tune!” Naruto roared back, his face betraying the rage that was bursting forth from him.

“How dare you speak that way about our mother! Maybe she was right about you all along! Maybe I should have just put you out of your misery!” Mito furiously shouted back.

Naruto's face slowly relaxed, his enraged snarl fading into a blank, vacant expression, his eyes suddenly seeming dead as she looked into them. She shivered at the sight of those vacant, dead eyes, thinking that they didn't belong in his head. Those eyes should be full of life and vibrancy, not causing her such great unease.

“I cannot die, yet…I cannot life,” Naruto told her in a hollow monotone voice that rang of bitterness and resignation, “I've already died twice, and both times, I've reformed and returned to life again. If you kill me, I'll just reform again.”

“Then…” Mito began hesitantly, not knowing how to react to this new revelation, “…why have you…why haven't you been fighting me harder when I've wanted you to spend time with me?”

“Because dying is a pain in the ass. Yeah, I don't need to be afraid of death, but it's far from pleasant. I've been giving in to you because I'd prefer to avoid the pain of dying and reforming. But the way you're being right now, and the way you've been since you brought me here, is really starting to make me think that reforming would be preferable to allowing this to continue.” Naruto responded in that same hollow voice.

“So if you're going to kill me, then be my guest, because I'm done doing being your plaything and letting you walk over me,” Naruto said as he got up out of his chair, turned around and left.

Mito could only gape at him in shock and sadness at this. Did he really find her so horrible that he would prefer death over her company? She sat frozen in her chair as she watched her brother leave, heading back to his room.

**End of Chapter**

**======================================================================**

_**A/N:** _

_**(1) The throne looks like the throne room from Castlevania Judgement.** _

_**(2) Think of Vergil's outfit from Devil May Cry 3.** _

_**(3) Think of Naruto's outfit as hokage, except with a different color scheme.** _

_**And that wraps chapter 3 up. There wasn't really any action, but I needed this chapter to set up coming events and to provide a basis for character development.** _

_**To somewhat clarify the matter of the whole 'evil Kushina' thing (which I've received various comments and flames about either through reviews or PMs): she's not 'evil'. She may look evil or cruel so far, but I have barely shown anything about her background or motivations. She has a background which explains why she behaves the way she does and yes, the wronged Naruto (who isn't exactly a saint in this story either as you have already seen somewhat and as you will discover later on). Just keep in mind that the characters in my story are not exactly black and white.** _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**Hey everyone, it took me a bit longer than I had hoped because I have been able to spend less time writing as my holidays are over now and I had to start working again, but I managed to finish this chapter. Likewise, it will take me some time to keep updating because of my work and because I like to play some video games every now and then as well, but I'll try my best.** _

**_Once again, my thanks to ncpfan for his help in fine-tuning my story. :)_ **

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

It has been five days since Naruto set his sights on Fairy Tail and he has been preparing himself to leave for Magnolia town. Naruto cursed himself for not having placed any of his Flying Thunder God markers in Ishgar before Mito brought him here.

Time was of the essence, as he would have to deal with Mito. He needed to reach Magnolia Town fast enough so that he had enough time to find out what Fairy Tail was hiding and possibly use whatever he will find for his own ends. He didn't know how Mito tracked him down when they met for the first time, but he knew for sure that she would find him once she got wind of his absence.

In that regard, his mother's isolationism wasn't doing him any favors either. Her castle was located on an island of her own creation, somewhere between the eastern and western continents of Earth Land. Just crossing the ocean would cost him far too much time in addition to having to travel through Fiore. He needed to save his magic in order to travel through Fiore as fast as he could and the extra distance to reach the shore fast enough would only further stress his body.

At any rate, Mito was a major obstacle as she still wouldn't let him leave the castle despite the compromise she made with him yesterday.

_**Flashback start** _

Naruto was sitting in his room as he was planning how he would get to Magnolia Town as Mito entered his room. Naruto turned towards her, wondering what she wanted as he had not seen or heard much from her since his little angry outburst four days ago.

“Naruto, we need to talk,” Mito said, sounding serious.

Naruto arched an eyebrow and blankly asked, “Talk about what?”

“About what you said to me, about you choosing death over being here. I have been thinking over what you said. It's just…” Mito took a breath before continuing, “…what I want to say is that I apologize for forcing my will on you here without any regard for your feelings.”

Naruto blinked a few times. He wasn't expecting this and asked, “So…you're saying you're not going to boss me around anymore? You won't force me to stay here anymore?” to confirm if she would really let him go.

“I'm not going to force you to spend time with me or do anything I tell you to, no. The only thing I ask in return is that you stop avoiding me and turning me down on principle, and if you do, that you can at least offer an honest reason that's better than 'I don't want to'…” Mito answered, never breaking eye contact with him, “…but, I will not let you leave here. That's the only thing I won't change my mind on.”

Naruto's hopes for freedom were dashed with that statement. Off course just letting him go like that would've been too good to be true. “Why are you so intent on keeping me here?” Naruto asked, his face twitching in anger.

“Because this is your home: with us, with your family – not out there amongst humans. As long as you don't accept that, I can't let you go,” Mito answered, making her resolve on the matter quite clear.

Naruto's could barely prevent his face from contorting into a furious expression as his temper was about to erupt again. His eyes narrowed before blankly telling her, “We share blood, but we're not family. You threatened to kill me when we met without so much as batting an eyelash, just for being weak in your eyes. How can you honestly expect me to consider you my family?”

Noticing that her brother was getting close to another outburst, Mito tried to placate him, not wanting to make things worse. “For what it's worth, I don't think you're weak and I won't try to kill you again,” Mito said and asked, “So, can we shake on it? You will stop avoiding me and I will show more respect for your feelings,” with her hand extended to Naruto.

Knowing that there's no point in further pursuing the matter of being confined to the castle and that if fortune favored him, he would be free soon anyway, Naruto decided to drop it and take what he could get in the meanwhile. “It's better than nothing I suppose,” Naruto said as he took her extended hand and gave a nod, “I'll agree to this as long as you make good on your word.”

Mito smiled, glad that the situation didn't escalate and that Naruto was willing to agree to her compromise. “I should go, it's late. Goodnight, Naruto-kun,” she said before leaving the room.

_**Flashback end** _

Naruto continued to think until an idea suddenly popped up in his head. Perhaps he could convince Natsuko to help him if he played his cards right. He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses to find that she was in her room. With a plan in mind and his sister located, he quickly headed over to her room.

Naruto was about to knock at the door. Natsuko opened the door to look who was there and a big smile broke out on her face as she saw it was her oldest brother. “Ruto-kun! Come in!” she merrily greeted him and immediately dragged him in, throwing the door shut behind them.

Naruto took a look at the room. Natsuko's room was full of fancy furniture, the walls were made of abalone, the floor was made of dark pine wood and there was a small pool of water in the room, which looked very much like a scrying pool. The most distinguishing part of the room was the side which was made of very thick and durable glass, offering a great view on the coral reef like an aquarium since the room was located below ground level.

“So, what brings you here, Naruto-kun?” Natsuko asked. She was happy to see Naruto approach her on his own volition, but she was curious why he did so as he didn't really approach anyone since his arrival here.

“Well, you know I've been spending most of my time in the library over the last weeks?” Naruto asked. His sister only nodded, interested in where this was heading.

“Well, the thing is, I was trying to fix a problem of mine. You see, several years ago, my powers were sealed for most part. Because of this seal, my magic puts great amounts of stress on my body, inflicting great pain on me. I've somewhat grown used to this constant feeling of torment, but if I exert larger amounts of magic, the pain becomes unbearable,” Naruto explained.

Natsuko released a gasp, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. “Th-That's horrible!” Natsuko exclaimed, she went over to Naruto and gave him a gentle hug.

”Did you find a way to remove this seal? Who did this to you?” Natsuko asked, firing a barrage of questions at him, her tone growing somewhat angry when she asked who was responsible for sealing her big brother's power, inwardly thinking of ways to make whoever was responsible for her brother's torment suffer.

“The people responsible for my predicament are already dead and I did find something that can solve my problems,” Naruto said as he produced his nullification device from his storage seal and explained, “This is a device that can nullify the seal's magic. The device itself works, but it needs lots of power to nullify the seal long enough for me to break it. That is why I have been spending so much time in the library; I needed a much greater power source.”

“So, did you find one? Do you need help?” Natsuko asked, hoping he had found a solution or that she could help him out.

 _'Hook, line and sinker!'_ Naruto victoriously thought as Natsuko was reacting exactly like he hoped she would. “I might have found something. It might not be sure if it's what I'm looking for, but still…” Naruto answered and began to explain about how he suspect a guild by the name of Fairy Tail might possess the solution to his problem.

“So, that's why I need get out of the castle and go to Magnolia Town, but Mito won't let me leave. I can't get there fast enough before she catches up with me. I need your help here, Natsuko,” Naruto asked Natsuko with utmost seriousness.

Natsuko noticed her brother's expression turning slightly sour at the mention of her older sister not letting Naruto leave the castle, but inwardly she was smiling a cheshire grin as Naruto told her he needed her help. She held her hand to her chin and made a “Hmmm” sound, adopting an intensely thoughtful expression as she considered helping him leave. After a few moments, she finally answered him, “Okay, I'll help you, but you do realize this is going to put me in a difficult spot, right? Can you make it worth the trouble this is going to cause between me and Mito?”

 _'Off course she will want something in return, although I can't blame her for that since Mito will likely be angry with her if she helps me get out of here. But what could she possibly want? Think Naruto, think,'_ Naruto pondered until the answer came to him, _'Wait, that's it! She's been quite adamant in claiming I'm her a boyfriend_ _…_ _'_

“If you can buy me enough time to do what I must, then I'll go on a…date with you. Would that make it worth the trouble?” Naruto proposed, saying 'date' as if he had just swallowed a big lump.

Now that surprised Natsuko, in a positive way. _'A date?! Hell, yes!'_ she mentally yelled. An earsplitting smile broke out on her face and she cheerily answered, “I'd say that would be worth the trouble!”

“You can buy me enough time to get there and do my thing, right?” Naruto asked, just to be sure.

“Hmph. Off course I can!” Natsuko exclaimed indignantly, proudly puffing up her chest before the two of them went on to plan the trip to Magnolia Town.

After they finished planning, Naruto left Natsuko's room with a satisfied expression. On the way to his room, an angry Menma caught up with him, having seen that he came from Natsuko's room. Menma walked up to Naruto and grabbed him by shirt before pushing him against the wall.

“Now listen carefully here…” Menma snarled and threatened holding his fist held up to make his point as he did so, “…Mito and Natsuko may allow you to hang around them, but I will not accept a lowlife such as yourself to mingle with your betters. Stay away from them…or else,”

Naruto narrowed his eyes at this…little piece of shit thinking he can threaten _him_ like that. Even in his current state, he wouldn't stand for this, even if he had to use a bit more extra magic than would be comfortable at the moment. He brought his right hand up, poised to flick his index finger.

“Oooh! So you're going to flick my head? How scary! You're even more pathetic th…” Menma began to mock as Naruto used his enhanced strength to launch Menma away and through a couple of walls with a mere flick of his finger.

Naruto watched as the holes in the walls automatically repaired themselves or perhaps he should say 'automagically'. _'Good riddance.'_ Naruto thought and headed back to his room, where he would wait for midnight.

Meanwhile, a dazed Menma shakily stood up and winced as pain shot through his head like a searing migraine. _'That-that bastard catapulted me through the walls with just a finger flick?! How can a weakling hit that hard?! I can't let the disgrace humiliate me like this and make me look weak_ _…_ _I will get for you this! I will put you in your place, Naruto!”_ Menma mentally raged with clenched fists and gritted teeth. He resolved to get back at Naruto to avenge his perceived humiliation.

Once it was finally midnight, Naruto got out of bed and quickly put on his clothes, including his face mask and made way for the place he and Natsuko would meet up. Arriving at the shore of the castle's island, Naruto saw Natsuko was already there, waiting for him, dressed in her usual tight-fitting attire minus her jacket.

“About time you showed, Ruto-kun. You left me waiting for a whole five minutes,” Natsuko said with amusement.

“It's called being fashionably late. Anyway, you've placed the barrier on Mito's room?” Naruto asked.

“Yup!” Natsuko said, popping the 'p', and smirked, “She'll be in a surprise when she tries to come after us.”

“Good. Let's be on our way then. Time's ticking,” Naruto said with a small grin as he took his sister's hand and they walked into the water.

“You worry too much, Naruto-kun. We'll be there before you know it,” Natsuko gently chided him as she drew upon her Sobek God Magic to merge her body and that of Naruto with the water and travel towards Magnolia at very high speed.

************* Line Break *************

Mito was asleep, enjoying her dreams until she was abruptly jolted awake. _'He left the island!'_ Mito thought in alarm, clenching her fist at the thought that Naruto would try to run away from her. When she brought him here, she had sealed some of her flames inside of Naruto, which would act like a beacon to her. If he tried to leave, she would know immediately.

The first thing she did was to rush over to the hearth in her room, which she was able to use

for scrying purposes. Locking on to Naruto's magic signature, the flames revealed images of Naruto, who had already reached the southern coast of Fiore, accompanied by someone else, by a girl. Looking closer at the fire, her eyes shot open and she gasped upon seeing that it was…Natsuko?

Realization dawned upon her. Her sister had helpedher Naruto leave the castle. An inferno of fiery anger filled her being and an ugly snarl appeared on her lips as she growled, “Natsuko…”

She took her katana and made a small cut on her palm, triggering her transformation as she offered her blood the blade. Unlike the previous time she transformed, she was now engulfed by a ball of fire instead of a flame pillar. The flames receded inwards to reveal an eight-feet-tall Goddess of Fire in her full majesty.

Mito tried to warp out her room of and towards Naruto's location only to find that she couldn't. She couldn't open the door or windows either as they wouldn't budge. _**'There's a barrier surrounding the entire room**_ _ **…t**_ _ **his is Natsuko's work! If you think this will stop me, then you're terribly mistaken, Little Sister. This won't hold me for long!'**_ Mito mentally yelled as she was enveloped in a flaming aura and got started on overloading the barrier with her magic.

************* Line Break *************

At the coast near the southern part of Magnolia Town, two figures emerged from the water.

“See? Told you we'd be here before you knew it,” Natsuko said with a satisfied smirk.

“Uh-huh,” Naruto nodded before saying, “I believe that castle-like building over there is the Fairy Tail building. Let's get going before Mito breaks free.”

Right ahead of them was a three-story building, strongly resembling a castle in appearance, having battlements on top of its two upper floors, while the ground has a western-looking roof, consisting of many small, square tiles of different size. Topping the building and the last floor, was a small tower-like dome containing a large bell. The front part of the top floor housed a large banner with the guild's insignia on it.

Surrounding the headquarters was a fence composed of stone over-topped by decorated railing and an open gate giving access to the guild, possessing an upper part covered in tiles, with railing below it, bearing resemblance to an open portcullis, plus a large sign bearing the guild's name, with ornate decorations above it.

Naruto and Natsuko made their way for the building and walked through the gate, noticing that the lights inside the building were on and there was quite some noisy coming from inside, despite the fact that it was past midnight.

The two of them entered the guild. There was a request board and an information desk to their immediate right and left respectively. In front of them, there were many restaurant tables across the entire room. At the back of the room, there was a large, wooden stage with four staircases behind it on its left and right sides.

Naruto deadpanned as he saw what caused the noise he picked up outside: the folks of this guild were brawling! _'I am not in the mood for this and by the look of it, she isn't either,'_ he thought as he noticed Natsuko frowning at the brawl. Their entry went unnoticed because of chaos inside of the guild hall. Naruto made a hand seal.

 **Nirvana Temple Jutsu** , Everyone stopped brawling and looked up to see a fluttering rain of white feathers fall down. Everybody except for Natsuko abruptly fell asleep after seeing the illusory white feathers, ensnared by the hypnotic spell of Naruto's illusory magic.

Naruto looked at Natsuko. “Natsuko, can you wait outside while I finish my business here?” Naruto asked.

“Aww, alright. Just hurry up, okay?” Natsuko pouted before walking back outside.

Naruto walked through the guild, stepping over several sleeping people, before stopping in front of a very short, old man with white hair on the outer rims of his head and a thick white mustache. He was wearing a white shirt, with a black Fairy Tail stamp under an orange hoodie. His appearance was completed by orange shorts and an orange and blue striped jester hat. Naruto recognized this man as Fairy Tail's guild master, Makarov Dreyar. Kneeling down, Naruto placed a finger against Makarov's head and disrupted the illusion spell.

Black eyes shot open and Makarov jumped to his feet. In front of him stood an unknown blonde young man. His eyes narrowed and he tensed as he saw that all Fairy Tail mages – who were just brawling once again – were laying asleep and he was certain this stranger was responsible for it.

“What are your intentions, young man? If you mean harm to my family, then you will answer to me,” Makarov demanded, he didn't know what this man wanted, but he would not let him bring harm to his children.

Naruto pulled down his face mask before speaking. “At ease, everyone is just sleeping. As for why I'm here? I came here to talk to you as a matter of fact,” Naruto said, trying to remove the tension. He did not want to waste his energy in forcing the man in front of him to comply if he could help it; he needed to save all the energy he could save for the inevitable confrontation with Mito in case he would not succeed to break his seal tonight.

“Oh, why didn't you say so? Take a seat!” Makarov jovially exclaimed. Naruto raised an eyebrow at how the old man switched mood so quickly. “So, what do you want to talk about?” Makarov asked.

“I want to know why the Alvarez Empire targeted your guild when they invaded Ishgar,” Naruto said, straight to the point, causing Makarov's posture to become stiff.

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, but for the safety of my guild and family, I cannot speak about this,” Makarov said firmly.

 _'Shit_ _…t_ _his is already heading the wrong way,'_ Naruto thought with a grimace, knowing that he would have to bring an offer to the table if he did not want to walk away empty-handed.

“I am Naruto Uzumaki, oldest son of Kushina Uzumaki…” Naruto said as calm as he could, although he failed to mask the flight hint of venom that came at the mention of his mother, “…and the reason I came here is because as loath as I am to say this, I need…help. I give my you word that I will not speak of anything you reveal and I am willing to give you a favor in return for your help, and I never go back on my word.”

A shudder went down Makarov's spine as he heard THAT name. Even the likes of Acnologia and Zeref themselves would quiver in fear at the mention of that very name. According to the legends, Kushina, also known as Goddess Kushina, was a woman who had ascended to godhood. Regardless of whether the stories were true or not, that woman stood peerless and was in a league of her own.

Whatever Makarov was expecting, it was not to see the son of said goddess before him. He didn't miss the hint of venom in Naruto's tone when he mentioned his mother nor did it slip by him that the boy in front of him was desperate, despite trying to hang on to his dignity. On top of that, Makarov couldn't help but notice how this boy's eyes looked like they have more than they should have. Most people wouldn't notice it, but he did; he has lived long enough to have learned to read people and pick such details up.

Makarov took a moment to think about what to do. Lumen Histoire is Fairy Tail's ultimate weapon and secret, handed down from guild master to the next guild master. Sharing such a secret wasn't something to do lightly. However, the boy in front of him was in need of help, that much is clear and the favor said boy promised could really help, should his guild end up in a dire situation. It couldn't hurt to hear this boy out.

“Those eyes are far too old to belong to someone so young. Just what have you been through, son?” Makarov asked.

A melancholic look appeared on Naruto's face as he answered Makarov's question, “Abandonment…abuse…betrayal…and right now, torture because of a seal that hinders my ability to use magic. I have tried to undo this seal for years and I finally devised a way to do so, but I lack the needed power source to activate the process for long enough. That is why I am here, asking about your guild's secret, in the hope that it can put an end to my torment.”

“I see,” Makarov mused before telling the blonde young man, “I can tell you are in need of a helping hand and I'm inclined to help you, however, the fact still stands that sharing my guild's greatest secret is nothing to take lightly, so I ask three favors of you, owed to the guild itself instead of just to me. What do you say?”

While Naruto detested the idea of being indebted to someone, he quickly decided that a shot at freeing himself from the seal was worth an inconvenience and agreed, “Fair enough. I will accept these terms,” nodding his head as he did so.

“Excellent! Now, follow me,” Makarov said and stood up, motioning for Naruto to follow him. Naruto was quick to follow.

After entering a secret entrance, the two of them went through a long underground spiral staircase passage, which resided deep below the guild. The stairs brought them to a mildly ruined, yet majestic room, possessing columns on the walls and brick arcs, with carved walls adorned by several Fairy Tail symbols. There was a circular platform in the center of the room, adorned by the Fairy Tail symbol and held up by four bridges, seemingly suspending the platform over a deep hole.

Makarov and Naruto stopped in front of a massive double door that was kept closed by a large magical glyph. “This place is off-limits to everyone except for Fairy Tail's master. Nobody will overhear or see anything we say and do here,” Makarov explained as he turned to Naruto and confirmed the blonde's deductions, “You were correct in assuming that we have something that sparked enough interest from the Alvarez Empire that they were willing to invade Ishgar.”

“What Alvarez wanted, is a secret which is known only to Fairy Tail's master and is passed to the next master: our ultimate weapon, Fairy Heart, also known as Lumen Histoire,” Makarov said as he undid the magic glyph, opening the door. Behind the door was the body of a young girl, encased in a lacrima.

Naruto stared at the Fairy Heart before staring at Makarov as if to say “Are you kidding me?”

Seeing Naruto's confusion, Makarov continued, “Don't be fooled by its appearance. Simply put, Fairy Heart is a source of infinite magic power.”

“Infinite?!” Naruto blurted out in shock. _'To think that there's something out there with actual infinite magic_ _…e_ _ven with my full strength, my magic power is near-infinite at best, but not truly infinite_ _…_ _yet. No wonder they’re keeping this under wraps!'_

Naruto retrieved the nullification device from his storage seal. “This device is what will disable my seal as long as it remains activated. So far, I've never been able to activate it for longer than a moment. Such is the amount of power it requires, however, with an infinite source of magic power, it will work,” Naruto said as he connected the device to Fairy Heart and activated it.

The device began to glow, becoming more intense by the moment until the light coming from the device became blinding. Makarov had to cover his eyes because of the blinding light.

Meanwhile, Naruto felt the constant, lingering pain fade away, feeling unrestrained as the seal's effects were lifted. He concentrated his magic on the seal and began chanting in Enochian, making symbols that looked like Enochian sigils appear all over his body, shining even through his clothes.

The sole reason the seal was even capable of affecting him in the first place, was because it was Enochian magic enhanced by his own magic, creating an Enochian sealing spell that was effective against him. To have his own power – power that was stolen in the aftermath of being betrayed by someone he trusted with his life – used against him, was the ultimate insult to him.

Once the light finally died down, it revealed Naruto, bearing a tranquil smile. _'The seal is gone. I don't feel the pain anymore, I can barely believe it. I'm finally free from that blasted thing!'_ Naruto thought with closed eyes as he was savoring the blissful feeling of his magic coursing through him without any pain or limits whatsoever.

Makarov's eyes shot wide open and his mouth went agape as he could barely belief the amount of power he sensed coming from Naruto; to say it was monstrous would be an understatement! It surpassed that of Ishgar's strongest mage, God Serena, by a fair margin. If the amount and strength of magic Naruto exerted was anything to go by, then Makarov had no doubt about Naruto claiming to be a son of Goddess Kushina and despite that, he was still shocked at witnessing such terrifying power emanating from said blonde.

At any rate, Makarov was certain that the favors Naruto owed Fairy Tail, will indeed be able to save them should they ever end up in a hopeless situation…like in the event that the Alvarez Empire would ever try to invade Ishgar again.

After a moment, Naruto suppressed his magic so he would not stand out like a beacon to everyone who can sense magic before he turned to Makarov, looking like a massive burden has been lifted of his shoulders. “It worked. After all these years, my torment has finally come to an end. I do not know how much longer it would've taken me to undo the seal had you not allowed me to use Fairy Heart,” Naruto said, sounding genuinely grateful before producing three orbs.

“With these, you can contact me whenever you wish to call in one the favors I promised to your guild. Shatter one of these to call upon me and I will appear. Rest assured that I will remain silent about everything that happened here tonight. You have my gratitude, Makarov Dreyar.”

“We do whatever we feel is right. That's the way of Fairy Tail mages,” Makarov told Naruto as he took the orbs Naruto offered.

“You're a strange human,” Naruto commented before adding, “Oh, by the way, what you just sensed, was only a fraction of my full power,” much to Makarov's shock, whose attempt to gauge his magic a moment ago had not gone unnoticed. He was in a good mood, so he figured he could mess around a little bit.

 _'Th-That's what he calls a fraction?!'_ Makarov thought in shock with his lower jaw virtually dropped to the floor. “Just what are you, Naruto?” he managed to ask despite his shock.

“Heh…you could say I'm Magic,” Naruto cryptically answered, to Makarov's great confusion, and said, “Anyway, I should leave now before a certain…Goddess of Fire arrives here and reduces this entire town to ashes in an attempt to retrieve me. It wouldn't do to show my gratitude by letting that happen now, don't you think?” before he used Yomotsu Hirasaka to open a rift within the fabric of space that looked like a black portal that looked somewhat pixelated because of the rectangular edges.

Stopping in front the rift, Naruto looked over his shoulders. “Until we will meet again,” Naruto said and with that, he took his leave.

“That we will,” Makarov said to himself while he stared at the spot where Naruto vanished.

************* Line Break *************

Natsuko was waiting for Naruto to finish his business. It was boring, but she understood why he needed to speak to the guild master under four eyes. She failed to notice the rift that opened up behind her. A hand reached out from the rift and grabbed her, before pulling her through the rift.

She released a startled squeak as she hadn't noticed anyone sneak up on her. Looking behind her, she was met with Naruto, standing behind her with his arms folded over each other and sporting a grin on his face.

“That was mean of you, Ruto-kun,” Natsuko pouted. She took note that they were no longer in Magnolia Town anymore, but that they were now in a forest. “Where are we by the way? How did we get here?” she asked, confused by the sudden change of scenery.

“I've transported us out of town, to the east of Magnolia Town,” Naruto plainly answered.

“So, did you get what you came for?” Natsuko asked curiously.

Naruto's lips curled up at being inquired about whether this trip was successful, “Yeah, I did. The seal is no more.”

“Cool!” Natsuko squealed and with a big grin on her face she asked, “So…when are you going to take me out on that date you promised, Ruto-kun?”

“Hmm? Oh, right! I did promise that, didn't I?” Naruto muttered to himself.

“You know, I heard that there would be a festival in Magnolia Town soon. I believe they called it the harvest festival. If I'm going to do this, I might as well do it right, so I was thinking of taking you out then. How does that sounds?” Naruto asked, hoping she would accept his offer since he could really use some time to prepare things as the only things he knew about dates was from hearsay – and that was not much. Safe to say, it was foreign territory to him.

“That sounds great!” Natsuko exclaimed and she hugged Naruto, to his discomfort. He really wished she would stop doing that so often; it made him feel very uncomfortable. “Why did you bring us here by the way?” she asked, not understanding why Naruto took her here.

“Because Mito can be coming any moment. Magnolia Town would end up being wiped of the map if Mito and I fight there as she probably will try to drag me back by force, which is something I won't tolerate, especially not now that I can fight back for real. Here I can fight without reservations. Besides, it would reflect poorly on me if I destroyed the entire place just after I received help there in breaking my seal,” Naruto explained.

Natsuko raised an eyebrow and said in a matter-of-fact tone, “I don't see the point. So what if you or Mito destroy the place and some people die? They're just humans.”

Naruto shook his head and asked her, “Oh? What makes you think that?”

“Humans are flawed and broken, they are beneath us and not worthy of our concern. That's what Mom taught us,” Natsuko said, reiterating what her mother taught her and her siblings.

“Damn right they are flawed…” Naruto said firmly, “…and while I don't care for humans either, I don't kill them without reason. You don't understand the burden of taking a live. It's not something to make light of and besides, you shouldn't take everything your mother taught you at face value.”

“And you're saying you know better than Mom?” Natsuko asked her brother in an annoyed tone, feeling slightly agitated at Naruto basically dismissing what she has been taught her entire life.

“I have killed far more people than anyone should have, much more than you can imagine. Killing is not something to take lightly, Natsuko…I know this better than anyone else,” Naruto responded with steel in his tone.

“I see…” Natsuko whispered. When her brother said that, he almost sounded like he loathed himself for the lives he claimed to have taken and the look of self-loathing that flashed over his face for a moment – it felt wrong to her to see him like that.

Natsuko had learned soon since meeting her brother that for some reason, he obviously hated their mother. She never asked him about it for she doubted he would give an answer as she discovered quite quickly that he didn't like talking about such things, but the question wouldn't leave her mind.

“Ruto-kun?” Natsuko asked carefully. Naruto responded with a “Hmm?” sound, prompting her to go on, “I was wondering…why do you hate Mom so much?”

Naruto eyes were shadowed by his hair as he looked down and took a breath as he recalled his horrible excuse of a childhood. “She was never a mother to me, Natsuko. Nothing I ever did was good enough. She would always look down on me with disdain and hate…always telling me how weak, or pathetic I was… and that she was ashamed that I shared her blood…that I was a mistake amongst other things. She had no qualms about using her power to intimidate and hurt me when I was a child…” Naruto told Natsuko, visibly trembling.

“She never cared when I was hurt because of her so-called training and she always punished me whenever I failed to live up to her impossible standards. How can I not hate her when she locks me into a dark room without food and water for days just because I cried? Or when she beat me just because I couldn't keep up with her insane training? Or when she forces me hunt for my own food because she refused to take care of me? Or when she dumped me in a forest, with nothing but my underwear, leaving me to find my way home all by myself. My only crime was doing what was natural to any child. When I was ten years old, she…forced me to run away. I begged her to let me stay…that I would do better, but she simply threatened to kill me on the spot if I didn't leave right away.”

When Naruto opened his eyes, they were crimson red and slitted, clearly showing the anger he feels as his tone gained a demonic tone to it as he said, **“Tell me, does that sound like a mother to you?!”**

Natsuko was completely taken aback. She knows her mother wasn't the best example of warm and loving behavior, their mother did not treat them like that. As a matter of fact, while she was harsh, she seemed to actually be proud of them, especially of Mito, if the praise she gave them was any indication. Besides, even they went through very hard training as well, which at times she could barely keep up with, they weren't punished the way Naruto described. Her mother was always so disdainful about her oldest brother and just like she never understood that, she also couldn't understand why her mother was this cruel towards Naruto.

Natsuko recalled how she has cried occasionally as well when she was younger and how her mother either ignored it or just told her off. She would go to Mito, who provided her a shoulder to cry on when things got too hard and ensured her everything would be alright and that she'd have to endure because it would make her stronger. She was grateful for Mito being there to comfort her and it saddened her to hear her that Naruto didn't have anyone to comfort him and that he was actually punished for it.

Naruto closed his eyes as a pained expression appeared on his face after his surge of anger left him. “What kind of mother does such things to her own flesh and blood? I…I will never acknowledge that monster as my mother!” Naruto yelled, the pain evident in his voice as a few stray tears rolled down his face. He suddenly felt a hand gently wiping his tears away.

“What are you doing? Weren't you taught to look down on this? Just like how Mito put her teachings to practice when she tried to kill me because she thought I was weak?” Naruto asked, confused and bitter.

“I never knew…” Natsuko whispered under her breath as she softly caressed Naruto's face and looked at his pained eyes. Even though she hasn't known her oldest brother that long, it broke her heart to see him so hurt. She embraced her brother tenderly and rested her head against his shoulder.

Normally Naruto would have been annoyed and uncomfortable when Natsuko hugged him, but this was different, it was gentle... and oddly comforting. He couldn't remember a time when he was ever held like this. Back when he was a child, he wished his mother would hold him like this. “Wh-why?” Naruto croaked out, confused as to why Natsuko is holding him like this instead of cracking down on him like he expected his mother to have taught her.

Natsuko raised her head and locked eyes with him, sadness written all over her face. “Because it hurts me to see you like this,” she said softly, causing Naruto's throat to become tight and his eyes to become misty-eyed. He didn't understand why she felt that way and he didn't ask; the lump in his throat wouldn't let him. He let her body heat warm him up and he took in her scent – which reminded him of a sea breeze – as he rested his head on her shoulder while Natsuko placed hers against his shoulder again.

The two of them stayed like that for a few minutes until they were interrupted by a blaze of golden fire erupting near them. The fire disappeared as fast as it appeared, revealing a furious, transformed Mito and a scowling Menma. Naruto and Natsuko separated at the expected, but unwelcome intrusion.

“ **Naruto, you're coming back with me** **…** **this instant!”** Mito roared authoritatively as she glared daggers at her older brother and younger sister with her fiercely glowing eyes.

**End of Chapter**

**======================================================================**

_**A/N:** _

_**And there you have it, the seal is gone and Naruto had his first contact with Fairy Tail besides his one-sided run-in at the start of the story (which hardly counts) with Erza, Natsu and Gray. The next chapter will finally include some real action as there will be two fights going on simultaneously.** _

_**For those hoping that Naruto will interact more with Fairy Tail, rest assured that he will as the favors he promised in return for the use of Fairy Heart will be cashed in.** _

_**On a side note, I made some small edits to the previous chapters. First of all, I removed the specific mention of Raijin and Fujin when Naruto's knowledge of God Magic comes up. I have put some more thought into this and decided to keep the type of magic Naruto learned from Kushina during his childhood open for now.** _

_**Likewise, I changed whose magic Natsuko's magic is based to Sobek: Egyptian god of rivers, crocodiles, warfare and strength. While I believed it would be original to pick a Polynesian ocean deity at first, I figured Sobek would be more appropriate as it would fit with Natsuko's general theme of using water magic and motives like strength are another nod to the fact that Kushina raised her children to be 'strong'.** _


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back a thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**It took longer than I had hoped to, but I finally finished this chapter. Enjoy!** _

_**As usual, thanks to ncpfan for helping me out. I'd also like to thank Joker619 for Beta reading my work in order to filter out my spelling and grammar mistakes. I will also subject the previous four chapters to a spelling and grammar check, so they will be updated as well.** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

There was an oppressive silence after Mito announced her arrival and intentions.

Naruto just stared blankly at Mito. Unlike the last time he fought her, he did not feel the slightest bit of fear at the prospect of facing the fire goddess in front of him, despite the power and anger she was radiating.

While Naruto stood there unfazed, Natsuko was tense. She knew Mito would come to retrieve Naruto, but she looked really angry with both her and Naruto. She was well aware of her older sister's temper, which she always teasingly called 'Mt. Mito erupting'.

Menma just looked, alternating his gaze between his siblings. He was peeved that Mito forced him to come with her. At first it sounded like a good opportunity to get payback for how Naruto humiliated him, but then his older sister had to ruin it by telling him that Naruto was off-limits to him, as he was hers to deal with.

Mito briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she reigned in her anger. **“This does not need to go any further, Naruto. Come with me now and I will let your petulance slide this time,”** she spoke firmly before frostily addressing Natsuko, who gulped nervously, **“As for you, we will have words later.”**

“You won't be telling me what to do anymore, Mito. I'm not going with you,” Naruto said.

“ **I tried to accommodate to you while I could have easily forced you to do as I wanted and this is what I get? Besides stopping with your attempts to avoid me, the only thing I asked of you was that you would not leave the castle, but you went back on your word and did it anyway!”** Mito shouted as she fixed Naruto with a sharp glare.

“Okay, now hold on there a second, cowgirl. Take a breath,” Naruto said, taking offense to being accused of going back on his word, his finger pointed towards her, slightly pointing upwards as if to belittle her, “I never said anything about not trying to leave the castle. I only agreed to stop avoiding you while at the castle.”

“ **Don't force me to do this, Naruto-kun,”** Mito pleaded, clenching her fists.

“No one's forcing you to do anything,” Naruto shrugged before adding, “One piece of advice: don't start something you can't finish. Abandon this foolish pursuit,” even though he doubted she would listen.

“ **No,”** Mito said as fire ran up over her mask, making it disappear as she looked at Naruto with resolve. **“Did you really think you could run away from me? That I would let you? I don't take joy in doing this, but I won't let you go when you belong with me!”** Mito declared loudly for everyone to hear, causing her younger siblings to gape at her in shock.

The revelation of Mito's motivation for keeping him confined at the castle caused Naruto to freeze up long enough for her to appear before him in the blink of an eye. Without warning, she grabbed him by his collar and slammed her lips down on his. Naruto was shocked and his eyes went wide, but he couldn't deny how great her soft lips felt against his. She was quick to sneak her tongue past his lips and invade his mouth as he was too stunned to put up any resistance, leaving his sister with free reign to explore his oral cavity. She moaned as she savored her beloved's taste. The kiss was rough, passionate and hot in the literal sense from the heat that her body – lips and tongue included – radiated.

Menma' mind short-circuited as his older sister abruptly began kissing Naruto. _'That filthy…! He's defiling Mito!'_ he managed to make out in his mind, as coherent thought was almost lost to him at the moment.

 _'She's kissing MY_ _Ruto-kun?! Not on my watch!'_ A livid Natsuko thought, angry at Mito's guts. She aimed her hand at Mito and generated a ball of water on her palm. “Keep your hands off my boyfriend, Mito!” she yelled as she fired the ball of water at her sister, intent on putting a stop to her older sibling making out with Naruto. It wasn't a strong attack by any means, but it was enough to disrupt the situation.

Without even looking, Mito intercepted the incoming water ball with her golden flames with a casual wave of her free hand, vaporized the water. Snapping back to his senses, Naruto pulled away and broke the kiss. “What was that?” Naruto asked her.

“ **The future. The result of our first meeting. What I've been feeling since that moment…that I love you. You and I will be together,”** Mito replied with a breathy voice as she looked at Naruto with desire.

Naruto shook his head. “No. No, that's – that's not gonna happen,” he denied, causing a hurt look to flash over Mito's face.

“ **It's so simple, Naruto-kun. We were meant for each other. It is destiny. We will be together. Why wouldn't you want that?”** Mito asked with hurt in her voice, genuinely not understanding why he was rejecting her.

“As I said, that's. not. going. to. happen. I don't believe your words of love. You see me as something you can…possess. I don't belong to you.” Naruto said with finality in his voice as he looked up and his piercing gaze bore into Mito's glowing eyes.

“ **Please, don't do this, Naruto-kun,”** Mito pleaded once more. While her expression looked composed, her eyes betrayed her rampaging emotions.

“I won't be coming with you and that's final!” Naruto shouted, making it clear to Mito that he wouldn't change his mind.

“ **I don’t want to do this, but you're leaving me no choice,”** she said, giving Naruto a pained look before she steeled herself to do what she believed was necessary. Her mask reappeared, covering her face once more and with determination she exclaimed, **“I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I won't let you go and if I have to break every bone in your body to keep you with me, then so be it. I will bring you back no matter what and in time you will accept my feelings!”**

Naruto closed his eyes. “If that's the way it's got to be…then I'd like to see you try,” Naruto said as he opened his eyes, revealing red eyes with a ripple pattern spread over the entire eyeball and nine tomoe. This was his most powerful eye magic: the Rinne Sharingan. Unlike the last time he fought Mito, he didn't feel the slightest bit of fear. Back then, she could wipe the floor with him easily, but now? Now the tables had turned as his sister was about to discover.

A chill went down Mito's spine as she looked at Naruto's eyes. _'_ _ **Surely he isn't deluded enough to think he can defeat me in this state? He should know that after our first meeting, but still... Something is wrong, but I can't lay my finger on it,'**_ Mito thought to herself.

Menma had had enough of this. First his sisters tried to hang around the bastard as much as they could, then his little sister went as far as to call him her boyfriend and now his older sister claimed to love him?! She even let the disgrace defile her right in front of him! _'To hell with Mito's orders, I'm going to show that failure why mother threw him away like the trash he is!'_ Menma thought, seeing red. He summoned a long-handled cruciform broadsword and charged at Naruto.

Naruto did not even need to look in order to notice Menma rushing towards him at high speed. With his powers – and by extension, his sensory powers – restored to their former level, he could combine his sensory abilities as if it were second nature to him, with exceptional clarity. By combining his ability to sense magic and his ability to sense negative emotions, any attempt to blindside him like that was pointless.

As Menma appeared behind him, intent on running him through, Natsuko struck at his side with a palm strike. “Gaaahhh!” he shouted as he was sent crashing through many trees by his sister's attack, which was backed up with strength beyond what her stature would suggest.

Naruto turned his head slightly towards Menma. With his Rinne Sharingan he could see across vast distances and he used Yomotsu Hirasaka to form a portal in Menma's trajectory once he was out of sight, transporting him to one of his dimensions.

“ **I told him not to do that,”** Mito angrily mumbled under her breath, before addressing Natsuko, **“Natsuko, while I'm angry with you for having helped Naruto run away, I'm willing to forget about it if you help me now. This way we can avoid hurting him more than necessary, okay?”**

“No,” Natsuko bluntly answered, staring Mito down.

“ **What do you mean, no?”** Mito asked, bewildered that her little sister shot her down.

“I'm not going to help you bring Ruto-kun back home. He doesn't want to be there and I won't force him to go back. If you want to go on with this, you'll have to go through me!” Natsuko said, standing in front of Naruto, ready to transform as well and defend her oldest brother.

Purple and red eyes widened in shock. Mito couldn't believe her little sister would actually stand up to her. They had always been close and amongst her siblings, she was the strongest, so Natsuko was never eager to make her big sister angry. She didn't understand why Natsuko would opt to fight her, knowing she was stronger. Besides, surely she would want Naruto back home as well? Mito felt…betrayed for lack of better words.

Naruto was shocked as well. Were it not for his ability to detect if someone spoke the truth by sensing the fluctuations in their magic caused by dishonesty, he would never have believed that Natsuko sided with him against Mito. He put a hand on Natsuko's shoulder. “Natsuko…thank you,” Naruto said, offering her a grateful smile.

Using his Mind Body Transmission Jutsu, Naruto telepathically spoke to Natsuko, _“I will take it from here. This is something I must do on my own.”_

“ _Mito is stronger than me and Menma, but together, we might be able take her on,”_ Natsuko offered, trying to dissuade Naruto from fighting Mito alone. She was worried for him as she knew that Mito was the strongest between the three siblings.

“ _This is something I have to do by myself. With my power no longer sealed, I won't lose,”_ Naruto assured his sister.

“ _Are you_ … _”_ Natsuko began to ask.

Mito, wanting to knock Naruto out as quickly as possible, decided to go with brute force to knock him out. Covering herself in her golden flames to vaporize any water attack on Natsuko's part, she rushed towards the duo with great speed, but before she could make contact with Naruto, an invisible power repelled and pushed her back with great force as Naruto used Almighty Push, a spell which manipulated repulsive force to push matter or techniques away.

“… _sure?”_ Natsuko finished, wondering what Naruto just did.

Naruto turned to Natsuko. “Listen, I sent Menma to one of my personal dimensions. How about you keep him busy while I deal with Mito?”

“Alright,” Natsuko nodded, deciding to trust Naruto on being strong enough to fight her sister. “Just don't end up barbecued, okay? You still owe me that date.” She teasingly reminded him with a wink.

“Hey, I'm a man of my word and don't worry, I'll be fine,” Naruto grinned. Using his Rinne Sharingan, a black and blue spiraling portal appeared close to Natsuko.

“That portal will take you to where Menma is. Now, off you go,” Naruto said as he motioned for her to go. Natsuko nodded and jumped through the portal, leaving Naruto behind.

Naruto looked at the direction from he sensed Mito flying back towards him. Within moments, a golden figure smashed into the ground near him and looked at him with narrowed eyes. **“Where did Natsuko go?”** Mito asked in a low tone.

“With Menma, I don’t want anyone to disturb us,” Naruto shrugged. “Now, at least make this interesting for me, o great Goddess of Fire?” he said with a smug grin plastered on his face. Making eye contact with her, he took the opportunity to cast an illusion on her.

Mito’s eyes narrowed even more at the way Naruto spoke to her. **“Do not make light of me, brother. Arrogance is not becoming of you and it seems I will have to remind that I am a goddess** **…a** **nd teach you some manners while I'm at it,”** Mito growled out before exerting her magic power and enlarging herself.

The temperature suddenly rose dramatically and golden flames to engulf Mito's body. The flames disappeared to reveal that Mito had grown until she was about three and a half times as tall as her brother.

If the blistering heat or her stature intimidated Naruto, he did not show it. Naruto just gave Mito a bored look, which angered her as she felt like her brother was mocking her. Mito charged at her brother once more with her naginata poised to impale him through his stomach. It would incapacitate him, but it would not be fatal.

Naruto swatted the naginata away by striking the flat side with his hand and followed up with a low, sweeping kick. Mito jumped and fired a blast of fire down. Naruto countered the fire with his water style magic, expelling a stream of water from his mouth. The flames sizzled as fire met water. This time, Mito’s flames failed to vaporize the water. Instead, the water actually extinguished her flames.

Mito was surprised, but recovered in time to dodge the incoming jet of water to resume her assault. Coating the blade of her naginata in flames, she launched a barrage of attacks at Naruto, with each stab and slash releasing a wave of her golden flames. Naruto dodged each strike effortlessly with minimal movement. He didn’t strike back yet; he would take his sweet time to play around with Mito just like she had done with him.

Seeing her brother dodge her attacks, despite the size of her blade, which had grown along with her, as well as her own great speed, only further frustrated Mito. To add insult to injury, Naruto had even closed his eyes whilst dodging her attacks as if he was being attacked by a snail.

Naruto kept this pattern up for another five minutes before he used Water Style: Water Cane to create a staff of water with a density that matched steel and began to fight back. Mito had difficulty keeping up with Naruto’s brutal strikes. Each strike was backed up by strength which easily matched her own monstrous strength and it was like she was assaulted by multiple people at once due to the speed and finesse with which her brother incorporated spinning moves in his attacks.

Soon enough, Naruto began to score hits on Mito as some attacks slipped through her defenses. Because the staff was made of water strong enough to resist Mito’s flames, she could not use her ability to turn her body into fire to avoid damage. Naruto knocked Mito’s naginata aside as he struck at her with the other end of his staff, hitting the back of her knee, causing Mito to grunt as the force behind the hit forced her down to her knees. He quickly followed up by kneeing her in the face, shattering her mask in the process.

Mito grunted as she was hit in her face, but not without punting Naruto back with a hard kick to his right side that connected with an audible crack, sounding like a few of his ribs were broken. _**‘What? How did he hit me? That strike should have passed through me. I turned my body into fire, I’m sure of it!’**_ Mito wondered. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what. She didn’t have to wait long for answers as she noticed she was no longer in the burned-down forest.

************* Line Break *************

Mito looked around her and to her confusion saw nothing but a barren mountainous landscape that went on as far her eyes could see and there was no sign of Naruto. She also noticed that she was wearing her mask again, which she was certain was shattered a moment ago. **“This must be an illusion…”** she muttered to herself as she tried to figure out what Naruto has done.

She heard a chuckling sound, seemingly coming from all directions. **“Brother, show yourself! You're just delaying the inevitable!”** Mito commandingly roared.

As if answering to her demand, two large skeletal hands suddenly erupted from the ground and tried to trap her in their grip. Mito engulfed her raised fist in golden flames and smashed it into the ground, creating a great flaming explosion which shattered the skeletal hands.

The dust cleared away to reveal a large crater with Mito standing in the epicenter. “Indeed…I am delaying the inevitable,” Naruto's voice spoke from seemingly every direction, although he did not add that he was speaking of her inevitable defeat.

Naruto emerged from the ground in front of her, having hidden himself in the ground with the Hiding in Surface Jutsu while she was distracted. Mito kept her eyes locked on Naruto, waiting for him to make a move as the confusion of the situation put her on edge.

“Having trouble figuring out what's real and what's not?” Naruto said with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

“ **What is there to figure out? You're using illusion magic to make it look like we are somewhere else, that's all there is to it. These kinds of parlor tricks won't help you, brother,”** Mito said with a frown, convinced that the use of illusions explained the situation.

“You're right, I did cast an illusion, however…” Naruto said, a smirk forming on his lips that grew wider as he dropped the bomb, “…everything you see around you, is no illusion at all. I merely lifted the illusion!”

Mito's eyes widened for a moment. **“Are you saying that we were here the entire time while you made it look as if we were in that forest? What's the point in that? How did you bring us here for that matter?”** Mito asked, shocked that she was caught in an illusion without even noticing it because she had been taught how to recognize and deal with illusions.

“Who said I only made the place look different? You have been fighting an illusion the entire time, Mito,” Naruto said, arms crossed and looking amused.

“ **You're bluffing. If that was an illusion, I wouldn't be feeling where I was hit right now,”** Mito rebuked.

“Oh, but that's where you are wrong, Mito. You see, I am pretty good with illusions – in fact, I can illusions that are powerful enough to convince your brain to believe anything to the point where my illusions cause you physical harm,” Naruto casually explained. Mito's eyes widened as she realized the frightening potential of such an ability.

“ **How did you bring us here without me noticing?”** Mito asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Oh, just good old-fashioned teleportation,” Naruto answered, giving his sister a soul-piercing gaze. While Mito was under the effect of his illusion, he had used one of his Rinne Sharingan spells to teleport both of them here, to one of his dimensions. Amenominaka was a space-time spell that allowed him to teleport himself and everyone within its range to his dimensions. This particular dimension was the core realm that linked all his other dimensions together.

Feeling that it was time to fight for real, Naruto's amused demeanor was abruptly replaced by seriousness. He quickly formed a Rasengan in his hand and hurled it at Mito, who quickly stepped aside to dodge the spherical projectile and blocked a palm strike from Naruto, who appeared before her. His hand moved straight through her arm and armor as if it wasn't there and struck her gut hard enough to knock her back a considerable distance. Beneath her armor and unseen to Mito, a formula appeared where Naruto hit her and spread over to her waist and her shoulders **(2)**.

Naruto mimicked a gun with his right hand and transformed his finger tip into steel, shaping the tip of his index finger into a steel bullet. **Steel Gun Jutsu** , he fired the bullet at Mito – who had deftly landed on her feet – with great velocity. Mito didn't bother to dodge, there was no need; physical projectiles would simply pass through her after all.

Mito clutched her shoulder and released a small cry of pain as the steel bullet passed straight through her as expected as she turned part of her body into fire on reflex. Her shoulder sizzled and released steam as she felt as if she was submerged. **“Another illusion?”** Mito hissed.

Naruto just pointed at her stomach. “Nope, you can't turn your body into fire just like that anymore,” Naruto casually explained.

“ **What are you talking about? What did you do?!”** Mito demanded heatedly.

“My Atlantic Prison will drown you whenever you turn your body into fire. No more lazing around by using that cheap trick of yours anymore,” Naruto explained.

“ **It won't make a difference!”** Mito's godly voice boomed before rushing towards Naruto with extreme speed. She punched Naruto's chest with her flame-covered fist, but to her surprise, she only ended up moving straight through Naruto, who had turned his body 'intangible' by teleporting the part of his body that Mito made contact with through the use his Kamui space-time spell.

Mito turned around and pointed an accusing finger at Naruto. **“How DARE you call me cheap and lazy when you just turned intangible yourself!”** Mito indignantly shouted.

“I'm just making my life easier,” Naruto shrugged, ignoring his sister's indignation.

“ **You can't be bothered to dodge or block? And THAT is not lazy?”** Mito fired back.

“Healthy self-indulgence is quite different from indolence,” Naruto responded with a dismissive wave of his hand, causing a tick mark to form on Mito's head.

“ **So you're saying that, when** _ **you**_ **do it, it's a** _ **positive**_ **trait…but when** _ **I**_ **do the** _ **same thing**_ **, it's** _ **negative**_ **?”** Mito asked in a calm voice that didn't manage to hide her rising temper.

“Very perceptive, Sister,” Naruto nodded with an infuriating eye smile.

“ **How the hell does that make sense?!”** Mito demanded as her voice rose, showing her bewilderment over her brother's reasoning.

“You are Mito…I am Naruto.” Naruto flippantly told her, as if that explained everything.

“ **You…you hypocrite!”** Mito roared. The earth rumbled as if responding to her anger and a geyser of lava erupted from where she was standing.

Naruto took off to the air to evade the wave of lava that rushed towards him, revealing he was capable of unaided flight. Looking down, he saw Mito glaring up to him, lava dripping from her form. She struck the butt of her weapon to the ground, causing an even bigger volcanic eruption and subsequently an enormous wave of lava to rush towards Naruto.

 **Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave** , Naruto spewed out a massive amount of water, forming crushing waves that met equally large waves of lava. Sizzling could be heard and steam formed, evaporating some of the water as the waves clashed, but the lava did not hold out for long before it was cooled down and crushed under the pressure of the tidal wave. The remaining water soon covered the entire area, leaving behind a miniature ocean.

The water was quickly gathered into a gigantic dome, 'imprisoning' Mito inside of the dome along with Naruto. Mito tried to escape as fast as she could, expelling jets of fire from her hands and feet in an attempt to gain extra speed, but being submerged hindered her. _**'I should have covered enough distance by now to have escaped the water. Unless...!'**_ Mito thought, now realizing that the large body of water moved; trying to escape was pointless if the water kept moving with her!

“I see you figured it out. I am the center point of this water prison, it moves with me and as long I keep chasing you, you won't be getting out,” Naruto said, explaining his Water Prison Shark Dance Jutsu.

Naruto saw Mito heading towards him. It was clear that she couldn't pick up enough speed to outrun him, so she went the most obvious target: him. Naruto put his hands out in front him. **Water Release: Ten Feeding Sharks** , from the tips of his fingers, magic was released into the water, changing into the form of ten ferocious water sharks, each sporting a wicked set of sharp teeth.

The sharks rushed towards Mito, and began to circle her with high speed, creating a raging stream that further impeded her freedom of movement, as four of the sharks attacked her from different sides. Mito gathered a sizable amount of magic and ran fire through the blade of her naginata and made a spinning slash, releasing a wave of flames. The flames only managed to partially destroy the sharks before dying out.

Another two sharks followed up, but were fended off as Mito slashed one across its length and smacked the other one away with a fire-enhanced backhand. Suddenly, she felt pain in her left thigh as another shark sunk its teeth in her thigh, ripping out a piece of flesh and releasing sizzling hot blood that could be mistaken for lava into the water. Engulfing her hand with fire, she punched towards the shark that bit her, releasing a stream of fire that incinerated most of the shark. Her wounds rapidly closed as the damage was regenerated.

Looking around her, Mito noticed that the sharks she had damaged had already regenerated from the surrounding water. “This takes you back, doesn't it?” she heard Naruto mockingly say, “Like that time when you trapped me within that fire wall of yours. Being the gentleman I am, I felt it was only polite to repay the favor.”

The sharks kept coming at Mito, keeping her on the defensive as they kept attacking relentlessly, bolstered by a numerical advantage. She managed to fend most of the attacks off with fire-enhanced attacks, but every now and then, one of the sharks manages to take another bite out of her while her attacks failed to destroy the them.

 _ **'This is pointless…I have to deal with you personally to put an end to this. My magic is already preventing me from actually drowning, but I must hurry before it runs out, however unlikely that is,'**_ Mito thought, deciding not to risk a battle of attrition, just in case Naruto pulled any other nasty tricks. As a goddess, she couldn't drown for she had no need for oxygen, but she was at a disadvantage here as her attacks were rendered less effective than they would be outside of the water.

Mito made a wild dash for Naruto, only to be blocked by one of the sharks. Quickly evading the incoming assailant and turning to the right, she was blocked by another shark. The other sharks were quick to surround her in a circular formation. She was getting more frustrated as this was going nowhere; she couldn't reach Naruto – who just observed the entire spectacle – like this.

 _ **'Enough! The kid gloves are off!'**_ Mito thought, having had enough of these distractions and the water prison. She held her arms crossed over her chest and gathered a very large amount of magic to eradicate the entire water prison at once. Naruto curiously looked on, sensing his sister building up a lot of magic. Mito's form began to turn golden as she was surrounded by golden fire that thickened by the second and formed into an orb.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Brilliant Star!”** the orbs of fire expanded in all directions. Everything in sight was engulfed by the expanding inferno. Naruto defended against the blazing inferno by activating his. After a minute, the blaze died down, revealing that the large body of water was completely evaporated.

Mito observed the result of her spell and noticed that Naruto was standing there unscathed. **“Give up already, you can't keep this up forever, brother. I won't go easy on you any longer!”** Mito's voice boomed as she took off to the sky and aimed her naginata at Naruto, held with both hands. The blade of the weapon began to glow a bright golden hue. From Naruto's point of view, the golden glimmer looked like a star in the sky that would descend any moment.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Rain of Fire!”** countless large fireballs spawned from Mito's blade and rapidly shot towards the ground.

Naruto stretched out his hand and used the Asura Path of the Rinne Sharingan **(1)** to change his hand into a cannon. A blue glow was emitted from the canon as Naruto gathered magic for his Magic Diffusion Cannon spell. Launching a bright blue beam of magic from the cannon, which diffused into multiple beams, which also kept branching into more beams. Each beams struck the descending fireballs, neutralizing them and filling the sky with a long trail of explosions.

Naruto charged up the cannon again as the fireballs were being neutralized. This time, a large, glowing yellow orb of magic formed at his cannon hand. Mito, seeing that her attack was countered, immediately prepared to charge another attack as a fireball was forming at the tip of her naginata's blade.

Naruto temporarily deactivated the Rinne Sharingan in one eye and activated the Byakugan instead. Using his cannon again, he fired his Magic Transportation Cannon spell, targeting Mito with pinpoint precision by using his Byakugan to see through the explosions that obscured his vision and the Rinne Sharingan to predict her movements.

Mito was about to fire her own attack as a large yellow beam ripped through her, sending most of her body away to a different dimension, effectively destroying her entire body except for her head and the upper-left part of her body. Flames spread from what remained of her and reformed her body, consuming a large chunk of her magic.

Enveloping herself in a bright, luminous cloak of golden fire, Mito shot down to the ground, not unlike a shooting star. A large fiery explosion enveloped the area as Mito hit the ground, leaving a big crater behind.

When the dust cleared, Naruto dropped the earthen wall he erected to block the fire by manipulating the earth in his realm **(3)**. The first thing he saw was Mito leaping down at him with her naginata raised for an overhead strike. **Earth Style: Earth Spear** , Naruto flowed magic into his left arm, causing it to become darker, making his skin as hard as diamond and held his arm up to block the incoming strike. While he suffered not so much as a scratch, the force behind the strike caused the ground behind him to crack, uplifting the earth behind him.

 **Water Style: Water Severing Wave** , Naruto quickly spewed a high pressure stream of water and tried to cut Mito in half. Reacting just in time, Mito leaned backwards as the deadly water stream grazed her mask. She enveloped her free hand in fire and punched at him. Naruto noticed this and prepared to evade by teleporting himself behind her with his Amenotejikara spell, a time-space spell of his Rinne Sharingan which allowed him to shift the position of himself, others and objects within a certain range.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Flame Fist,”** a giant column of flames was shot towards Naruto, utterly evaporating the earth, leaving a large trench of destruction behind. She was knocked to the ground as Naruto had appeared behind her and drilled her with an Ultra Big Ball Rasengan. A screeching noise could be heard as her armor cracked, the white robes underneath were shredded and her back was being ground by the Rasengan. The rotating sphere of magic then burst, blasting Mito into the ground, prompting a cry of pain.

Naruto surveyed the result of his attack, seeing Mito's mangled back quickly regenerating. He felt a large amount of magic power coming from her downed form as the ground became lit in an immense circular inferno. Mito, now cloaked in flames, got up to her feet and glared at Naruto. The heat around her was such that her image danced in the hot vapor, making it easy to misjudge her location with normal eyesight. **“This has dragged on for long enough, big bother. I shall show why I am Mother's strongest!”** Mito roared with her booming voice, appearing before Naruto in an instant and delivering a thundering punch to his gut, propelling him back through the air.

 _'Ugh! That actually hurt! She's not pulling her punches anymore,'_ Naruto noted, wondering as he was clutching his stomach and spitting out a glob of blood, _'More importantly, why couldn't I control my magic? A side effect of sealed for so many years?'_

He tried to use Kamui to pass through his sister's attack, but it suddenly felt as if his magic just became near-uncontrollable. It felt like a sort of surge that went through his being and he chalked it up to being a side effect of having been sealed off from accessing his great levels of magical power for so long.

Mito was instantly upon him again, appearing behind him with speed that would look like teleporting to the naked eye, and kicked Naruto hard in his back, launching him up. Not letting up on her assault, she shot up into the air and slammed him down with her first. Naruto crashed into the ground spat another glob of blood and tried to stand up, only to be knocked down by Mito, who alternated between releasing a never-ending barrage of punches and fire strikes at him. The breaking of bones could be heard, his body was riddled with burn wounds and blood was running from Naruto's mouth as she continued her brutal assault, not stopping until her brother was subdued.

Managing to get a grip on his magic once more, Naruto summoned his strength to head-butt Mito in her face, completely shattering her mask and causing her to reel briefly, but she continued to beat on him with her fire-enhanced strikes. Naruto reactivated his Rinne Sharingan and used Shinra Tensei. As Mito was about to deliver a strike to his face, she was catapulted away by an invisible force, giving Naruto some breathing space.

Naruto's wounds quickly began to heal as his regeneration kicked in. Purple energy flared, covering him in a purple shroud that released magic as flickering flames and formed a yamabushi robe to cover his body **(4)** as he activated his Susanoo Mode. Seeing Mito coming in for the attack, he dashed to her to meet her assault head-on.

Blurs of gold and purple could be seen as both siblings took their fight up to the air and kept clashing with each other at extreme speeds. Spotting an opening in her defense, Naruto staggered Mito with a magic-enhanced uppercut to her chin. Forming two large skeletal hands from his Susanoo shroud, he grabbed Mito and pile-drived her into the ground with a sickening crunch, mutilating the landscape even further with a deep hole, formed by the impact.

Naruto quickly dashed back as Mito, whose wounds had regenerated as quickly as ever, made a slashing motion with her hand, releasing a torrent of flames. Although he was confident in his shroud's defensive power, he did not want to take any chances, still struggling to retain control of his magic every now and then.

 **Earth Style: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling** , Naruto slammed his palm to the ground and lifted up a giant lump of earth. Not waiting for Mito to come to him, he hurled the giant ball of earth at Mito with neck-breaking speed. The sight of the approaching boulder alone would intimidate almost anybody, but Mito was not just anybody.

Mito just ran towards Naruto, completely ignoring the boulder. The ground beneath her feet melted as she increased the heat that radiated from her to even more intense levels. The giant boulder slammed into her, but it didn't hurt her in the slightest as it passed 'through' her as the mere contact with her melted the rock, like a blowtorch through wax.

Seeing this, Naruto channeled Raikiri through his left hand and plunged it through the portal he formed in front of him at the same time. **“Gahh!”** Mito spat a glob of her lava-like blood and gasped as she saw her brother's lightning-covered hand coming from a black portal in front of her, impaling her through her chest. She was taken off-guard by the swift and unorthodox use of Naruto's portals. Pushing past the pain she felt, she threw her naginata at Naruto like a javelin.

Naruto ducked beneath the incoming projectile that was meant to spear him, but Mito telekinetically commanded her weapon to turn around and attack Naruto by itself. Naruto's attention was briefly divided between watching Mito and dodging the frantic attacks of the naginata.

Suddenly, she teleported her naginata back to her hand and enlarged her form until she reached hundred feet in height. She raised her now-gigantic naginata and the blade began to glow with golden fire before she brought it down. A massive and broad veil of fire erupted upwards and traveled forward from where Mito hit the ground.

Naruto quickly gathered a large amount of magic to counter the attack. **Water Style: Water Formation Pillar** , Naruto expelled a giant dense, curved torrent of water to counter the veil of fire. The water barricade held for a few moments as great amounts of steam formed before the flames overpowered the water wall. The fire continued to travel for miles, illuminating the horizon as they did, before finally coming to a stop.

“ **Now do you see how pointless it is to fight me, Naruto? Stop resisting me and accept your fate at my side!”** Mito's voice boomed down at him with authority that only a deity could possess, commanding him to submit to her.

Naruto glared at her in response. _'So you want to play it that way, huh?'_ Naruto thought to himself as his Susanoo shroud wildly flared around him and shaped itself into a colossal humanoid that matched the height of his titanic sister. The imposing figure resembled a yamabushi, possessed a tengu-like nose and was clad with robes and ornate armor.

“This is my Susanoo, it is destruction incarnate!”

Mito wondered what kind of magic her brother was using, intrigued to see him create something of this caliber without god magic. Pushing her thoughts aside, Mito created three giant fire dragons and commanded them to attack Naruto.

Black flames formed in the hand of the Susanoo. **Fire Style: Susanoo Kagutsuchi** **(5)** , with a swing of the flame covered hand, Naruto hurled three black fireballs at the dragons, consuming them before they even had the chance to reach him.

Locking eyes with his sister, Naruto cast a paralyzing illusion on her through his Rinne Sharingan before gathering a tremendous amount of magic. He channeled Chidori through the right hand of his Susanoo as he raised it up, pointing towards the sky. **Chidori Sharp Spear** , lightning extended upwards into the sky and formed a giant lightning blade, seemingly endless in length. He swiftly swung the blade down, cutting straight through Mito's paralyzed form, along with everything else in its path. A giant fissure formed as the ground; or rather the entire planet was split in two.

Losing another chunk of magic as she regenerated from being bisected at this size, Mito stared with wide eyes at the destruction caused by Naruto's attack. _**'I-Impossible…! He split this entire world in two with just a single swipe!? No, I can't think like that! I can't afford to lose!'**_ Mito thought as a feeling of dread sank into her stomach before she squashed those thoughts away, determined to triumph and bring her brother back with her.

Naruto walked towards Mito at a nerve-wrecking slow pace, each step causing the ground to shake. Regaining her wits, Mito summoned a torrent of fire which she shaped into five giant figures that resembled oni, each armed with a fire kanabo. Letting the fire giants deal with Naruto, she flew back into the air.

Naruto blankly stared at the fire giants and equipped his Susanoo with two swords. Using Chidori Sharp Spear, he created a katana made of lightning and using Susanoo Kagutsuchi, he created a katana made of black fire.

He quickly dashed at the fire giants, unleashing a rapid barrage of slashes that dispersed two of the giants. Loading magic in his palm, Naruto unleashed a barrage of magic fists at the fire giants. The fists of his Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack spell smashed into the fire giants, causing massive shock-waves that dispersed the fire constructs.

 _ **'I can't afford to hold back…'**_ Mito thought grimly as she used the little bit of time she had bought with her fire giants, to charge up a fireball at the tip of her weapon that was roughly ten times her size. Naruto looked up to see that everything in the sky was blocked out by what looked like a miniature star.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Supernova!”** slashing her weapon down, she fired the gargantuan fireball towards the earth, having poured in an immense amount of magic into this attack, even by her standards.

Naruto raised right hand and his Susanoo mimicked his movement. He activated theBlocking Jutsu Absorption Seal, creating a barrier around him that sucked up the massive fireball, absorbing the magic and dispersing it throughout his body.

Mito's eyes shot wide, seeing her attack being absorbed, just like that. Her sinking feeling returned as she realized how much more monumental the task of taking down her brother had become.

“Enough of this. Playtime is over!” Naruto declared, deciding that he had spent enough time 'playing around' with Mito. He would end it right now. Exerting his magic, the armor of Susanoo receded, showing more skin as massive discharges of lightning emanated from its back.

Mito swore she could see the silhouette of a giant ten-tailed fox appear behind Naruto, baring its wicked teeth at her as the apparition looked ready to devour her. _**'This magic…! I-It's so oppressively thick…I feel like I'm suffocating!'**_ Mito thought fearfully as she was bombarded by Naruto's extreme magic power and the killing intent he was directing at her. The only time she had ever felt this much magic was from her mother and a hopeless feeling overcame her.

Naruto formed a green sphere in the palm of his hand, a Puppet-Cursing Sphere. Mito felt her magic being absorbed at a rapid rate, her form shrinking as her magic left her until she was human-sized. “It was fun while it lasted, but this ends now.” Naruto coldly spoke, looking down at Mito as he formed a purple Susanoo blade and unsheathed it, ready to end this battle.

Just as Naruto was about to attack, he felt another surge, losing control of his magic long enough for his Susanoo to dissipate. “Ugh!” he grunted as he crashed into the ground as he couldn't control his magic enough to fly.

Mito could only watch in fearful anticipation as she believed she was done for. With how little magic she had left, she wouldn't be able to sustain her goddess form after this. The colossal ethereal warrior raised its sword over its head before bringing it down and then... nothing. Looking in front of her, she saw Naruto had fallen down to the ground, his Susanoo gone. From the looks of his frustrated expression, it seemed like something messed his spell up or he finally burned through his reserves. _**'Now's my chance!'**_ Mito thought as she aimed her hand at Naruto, forming a ball of fire on her palm.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Atom Blazer!”** Mito fired a thick beam of fire towards Naruto, who had just managed to get his magic under control again. She poured as much magic as she could into her attack to increase the heat and power of her spell. Coating his left arm in the flickering yellow magic of his Ten-Tails Magic Mode shroud **(6)** , or rather, partitioning the entirety of his Ten-Tails Magic Mode through his left arm, he ran towards Mito, meeting her attack head-on and overpowered it by blocking it with his hand, deflecting the flames.

He grabbed the ball of fire at Mito's palm and flexed his grip, crushing it immediately. Redirecting his Ten-Tails Magic Mode in his right arm, he delivered a superhuman punch to Mito's face, sending her soaring back and destroying the surface around him because of the massive shock-wave his punch caused.

After being sent back a great distance by Naruto's attack, Mito finally smashed into a cliff, leaving a huge dent and equally huge cracks behind where she hit the rocky slope. Her eyes lost their glow, her hair faded back to its red color and her battle attire disappeared, replaced by her battle kimono.

“I lost…? How could this happen…?” Mito wondered to herself as she lay there trembling with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She had never lost to anyone but her mother before, being her mother's strongest child, the prodigy, yet here she lay, utterly defeated.

She saw Naruto standing in front of her and shakily looked up to meet his crimson eyes. Naruto blankly stared at her broken form for a moment. Mito's mouth opened to release a silent scream as a searing feeling of pain hit her. Looking down, she saw Naruto's hand impaled in her chest. _'Is this how you felt? Was I so horrible that you want to kill me? Maybe…I deserve this…I…I'm sorry…Naruto-kun…'_ Mito sorrowfully thought before darkness claimed her.

Naruto stared at the downed form of his sister, knocked out by his Rinne Sharingan illusion. He had gotten even with his sister for what she had done to him during their first fight. He paid her back for the fear she made him feel, for the condescension when she just played around with him like he was nothing, for trying to kill him in cold blood. Finding out that he had trouble controlling his overwhelming amounts of magic after been stuck with a sliver of his magic – both in power and reserves – for years, was a setback, but it was just an inconvenience; it would pass away soon, he was sure of that.

Satisfied with his performance, Naruto turned around and formed a portal in front of him. _'Well, time to deal with Menma,'_ he mused to himself as he entered the portal.

**End of Chapter**

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_**A/N:** _

_**(1) Note that the Rinne Sharingan is using Rinnegan, Sharingan and Mangekyou Sharingan techniques here. This is intentional on my part as I have taken a bit of leeway with the Rinne Sharingan's abilities.** _

_**(2) The seal I've used here is a water variation of Fire Release: Heavenly Prison seal. It's supposed to hinder Mito's ability to transform into fire because the seal would release water instead of fire, to counter her ability as Naruto has 'programmed' the seal to activate under that condition.** _

_**(3) Think of Kaguya's ability to manipulate the snow and ice in her ice realm; this is somewhat similar. Naruto is capable of manipulating 'nature' and that's what just happened here, he manipulated the natural world (in this case, the earth of his realm) to do his bidding.** _

_**(4) This is a Susanoo that is 'shrunk' down until it forms a 'chakra' cloak around Naruto, just like how he has a Tailed Beast Mode and a Tailed Beast Cloak.** _

_**(5) I know it's called inferno style in canon, but I decided to prefix this attack with fire style because it's officially a fire release technique and for the sake of convenience.** _

_**(6) Naruto won't have a Nine-Tails chakra mode or cloak here. In theory he could create one, but his tailed beast form will be a ten-tailed version of Kurama.** _

_**And that concludes this chapter. This chapter got too long to include the fight between Menma and Natsuko, so the next chapter will happen in parallel to this one. I hope the fight was enjoyable and keep in mind that while Naruto could have ended this much easier, the point was that he wanted to pay Mito back for their first battle by making her feel the way he did.** _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**In order to prevent some confusion at the start of this chapter, this chapter runs parallel to chapter 5 and geographically starts on the other side of the 'planet' inside Naruto's core dimension.** _

_**As usual, my thanks to npcfan for his help,** _ _**to Joker619 for Beta reading my work in order to filter out my spelling and grammar mistakes** _ _**.** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

While Naruto was about to engage Mito, a black and blue spiraling portal appeared in the air and a blue-haired female figure fell out of it. Turning her body into water as she dived down, Natsuko hit the ground, leaving a puddle behind from which she reformed herself. “Meh, that was mean of you, Ruto-kun,” Natsuko complained in a whiny voice.

“Now, Menma, where are you?” she asked to nobody in particular as she tried to sense his location. “There you are!” she exclaimed happily and ran off in his direction.

Meanwhile, Menma was wandering around, confused as to how he got here, wherever here was until he heard a female voice shout his name. He turned around to see Natsuko running down the hillside of the valley and towards him.

“Natsuko? Where are we? How did we get here?” Menma asked, wanting answers.

“Hello to you too,” Natsuko said in a cheery voice, “And I don't know where we are, but Ruto-kun sent us here.”

“Speaking of HIM…why the heck did you defend the failure from me?” Menma demanded angrily.

“Because you tried to hurt my boyfriend!” Natsuko huffed, arms crossed.

Menma's eyes narrowed and he snarled, “What is wrong with you? Why do you keep calling HIM your boyfriend? It's disgusting! When all is said and done, he will be lying dead at my feet!”

Natsuko's demeanor instantly morphed from innocent and bubbly to angry, “You will not touch my boyfriend!” she shrieked with an angry glare on her face.

“And what are you going to do about it, huh?!” Menma angrily fired back, he refused to let this madness go on any longer.

Natsuko reared back her fist, which was surrounded by bright blue water. “This!” she yelled. **“Sobek's Breakdown Fist!”** she punched the air, hurling a giant water fist at Menma, who quickly stomped the ground to raise a thick stone barricade from the ground to intercept the water fist, leaving only a dent and a few cracks behind.

Natsuko did not let up and let loose another blast of water at the spot she just hit and formed the water into a drill. The wall held up briefly before shattering, prompting Menma to jump to the side and run towards Natsuko, only for the water to be redirected, almost hitting him in the back if he hadn't quickly raised another wall of earth which he broke down into sand to soak up the water.

Both combatants proceed to exchange blasts of water and earth with each other, appearing locked in a stalemate. Ducking under another jet of water, Menma slammed his fist into the ground, using his control over the earth to create an earthquake, causing Natsuko to briefly lose her footing. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Menma formed a pitch black stone that glowed with a white runic inscription in the palm of his hand.

“ **Jord's Runic Shrapnel: Agony!”** Menma shot the black stone at Natsuko, splitting into many small pieces. Natsuko used her ability to turn her body into water to avoid damage, but she released a cry of pain as the shrapnel passed through her, causing great pain where the shrapnel struck her.

“Didn't expect that, huh? It's one of my special spells!” Menma gloated, happy with the result of his spell.

“How?” Natsuko asked with confusion written all over her face. She had never seen him use a spell like that before.

“I combined letter magic with my earth magic to create these runic stones of mine. That rock which just passed through you, was imbued by a rune meant to cause intense pain. Even our ability to turn our bodies into the elements we command won't bypass my runic stones!” Menma boasted with no small amount of hubris.

Natsuko only gave Menma an angry glare as bright blue water swirled around her clenched fists. **“Sobek's Flooding of the Nile!”** she slammed her palms to the ground and a big tidal wave sprang forth from her hands, rushing towards Menma.

 _'I definitely don't want to get hit by that and just raising a wall is risky if she breaks through!'_ Menma thought to himself, knowing that Natsuko often uses her water as a medium for draining magic. He quickly used Jord God Magic to rip numerous chunks of rock out of the ground to use as platforms, before jumping of one particular large chunk of rock, using it as a makeshift hoverboard to avoid Natsuko's attack. Looking down, he noted that the battleground was flooded with Natsuko's signature bright blue water.

Natsuko did not let up as she commanded the water to attack Menma. Tentacles of water tried to grab Menma, intent on throwing him into the water while he was blocking and dodging other attacks as well. Shots of water with enough ferocity to pierce stone and sweeping beams of pressurized water kept Menma on the defensive. A combination of his agility and the sand he created by breaking down a good portion of the rocks around him to block the water attacks by soaking them up, allowed him to remain untouched so far.

Knowing that he couldn't keep this up indefinitely as his sand couldn't keep soaking up water forever, Menma decided on changing the arena a bit more to his liking. **“Jord's World of Trees,”** huge trees erupted from the ground and grew at an alarming rate. Before long, a small forest of purple trees with white leaves stood tall over the lake Natsuko had created before.

Dodging another shot of water, Menma jumped onto the thick branches of one of the trees, having created some space for himself. Beginning his counterattack, Menma mentally commanded the branches of the trees to attack his sister. Natsuko gritted her teeth as she was constantly surrounded by trees that would strike at her, giving her no opportunity to cast spells directly because the branches would strike at her limbs in particular; she was limited to mentally commanding the body of water she had created.

One of the branches managed to ensnare Natsuko by her foot and slung her against another tree. She noticed that Menma had already sent his sand after her, to soak her up if she liquefy herself upon impact. That was something she was not eager to experience again. “Ooph!” she wheezed out as she hit the tree. Not a moment later, the sand, now condensed into a ball, slammed into her gut, making Natsuko spit out a glob of blood. Summoning water to her hands, she grabbed the ball of sand to saturate the ball with water before liquefying herself to escape into the water, which she merged with.

Menma was looking around like a raptor, waiting to see where she would emerge from the water. He didn't have to wait long before a broad spear of water shot up from beneath him. He quickly jumped to another branch, only for another water spear of water to make an attempt at turning him into a shish kebab. The pattern continued, until Natsuko suddenly came out of one of the spears and struck him with a water whip in his face.

“Gah! You – You'll pay for that!” Menma shouted, jumping back as he clutched his face, which was now sporting a wide gash over his right cheek. Holding his hands together in front of him as if grasping an imaginary object, he summoned his magic power. “Let's see how you'll with this!

“ **Jord's Valley of the End!”** he spread his arms wide as if he ripped something in two and the earth responded in kind. A large fissure opened up, turning the lake Natsuko made into a canyon as the water drained down the fissure.

Looking down from his high perch, Menma took a brief moment to admire his handiwork. He turned his gaze towards Natsuko and his eyes narrowed before he jumped down to the ground. “You're in my domain now…” he growled as he dug his hand into the ground. The gash on his face closed up as he used the earth to heal himself, as he willed the roots of the trees around them to attack his sister.

Natsuko summoned a pair of kodachis with the handles and hilt being light blue with each sporting a tsuba made of two slim swirls of metal looping around the blade to make an open oval, resembling an 'S'. Deftly avoiding the branches, she used her blades to cut through them, releasing waves of pressurized water with each slash.

“ **Jord's Runic Blade: Neutralize,”** Menma summoned his broadsword and swiped his hand over the flat side of the blade, coating it with the same black stone he used before, which was inscribed with a rune meant to nullify magic. He melted into the ground and appeared next to his sister and made an overhead slash.

Natsuko noticed Menma's sneak attack just in time to roll out of the way. Noting that sword was seemingly made of the same kind of rock Menma had hit her with earlier, she realized that getting hit by it would be very bad. Natsuko tried to create some distance between the two of them by jumping back, but Menma would have none of it and formed a circular stone wall to trap her with him. With a smug grin, he rushed towards her.

Steel met steel as Natsuko brought up her own blades, crossed over each other, to block Menma's strike. Coating her blades in water that drained magic, Natsuko began to strike back. The two of them kept exchanging blows. They seemed to be evenly matched, until Natsuko stabbed one of her blades through Menma's kidney.

Menma felt the drain on his magic as the blade pierced him, but grinned as he had Natsuko right where he wanted. Liquefying the pierced part of his body and taking a step forward before hardening the liquefied part of his body, he trapped Natsuko's arm.

Deciding he wanted this wrap this up, Menma raised his free hand up. Bending through his knees and performing a sharp motion with his hand as if pushing something towards to the ground, he caused the ground beneath Natsuko to liquefy and swallow her up to her knees before hardening in order to further restrict her mobility.

Natsuko glared at Menma and was about cast another spell with her free hand, but Menma beat her to the punch and swiftly embedded his sword in her stomach, causing blood to leak out. “Aaahhh!” She shrieked as the runic stone negated her ability to turn her body into water.

“I told you that you would pay, baby sister. Now, are you going to beg for forgiveness or do I need to teach you a lesson first?” Menma said with a crooked grin, releasing Natsuko's arm from its confines as he covered his fists in a layer of rock, intent on punishing her for the wound she gave him earlier.

Clutching her stomach with both hands, Natsuko felt the blood that was flowing out where she was stabbed, as she watched her brother prepare to administer his punishment on her and she quickly swiped her blood-covered hands over her blades, causing glyphs to light up on them and stabbed them into the ground, hoping that her gambit would work.

A huge blue magic circle appeared beneath the both of them. Menma's expression turned into a surprised one as he didn't think that his sister should have able to initiate her transformation into her goddess form while being affected by his runic stone. Knowing what was to come, Menma grabbed his sword and pulled it out, leaving the runic rock coating behind in Natsuko's wound as he jumped back, out of the magic circle.

Hurrying up before Natsuko's transformation finished, Menma nicked his thumb and used his finger to draw a rune of blood on his palm before slamming it to the ground, making a similar green magic circle appear beneath him.

A geyser of water erupted and shaped into a huge sarcophagus which encased Natsuko and began to freeze, turning into bright blue ice. A moment later, thick purple wooden roots shot up around Menma and converged, hiding him from view as he was swallowed up in tree-like structure the roots formed.

Cracks began to form over the frozen sarcophagus before cracking and exploding into chunks of ice, revealing Natsuko in her goddess form. She stood as tall as a vulcan. Her body looked undeniably more mature and her hair – which had turned into a lustrous silver color – fell straight down her back. She was wearing a white loincloth battle dress that went up to her breasts with a V-shaped opening that put her cleavage on full display. The dress was decorated by light blue trimmings and patterns. Her legs and back were completely uncovered besides the two layered sheets of blue-trimmed white cloth that was fastened to the right side of her waist and the small of her back, where a web of brown straps that held her dress together converged. Her arms were completely covered by similarly patterned white sleeves that flared wide and were adorned with tree-pronged wing-like pieces at the shoulders. Her legs disappeared into mid-calf-length white and blue boots that matched her dress. She wore a white and blue choker around her neck and her apparel was completed by a headpiece which looked like a ring with three thick pins – each longer than the other from top to bottom – protruding from the ring's left side at different angles, with the upper pin being significantly longer and also protruding on the right side, looking like a larger version of a nail. A crescent – which started from the end of the lower pin – intersected the three pins **(1)**. Her kodachis were replaced by an ornate rapier which was made out of ice **(2)**. Glowing pupil-less violet eyes were revealed as she opened her eyes.

The first thing Natsuko saw, was Menma emerging from the purple tree-like structure – which had just withered to dust – in his own god form. His eye were glowing, violet and pupil-less just like his sister's, his hair had turned into a bronze color and his stature had become a bit bulkier. He stood a head taller than his sister and the majority of his arms and bare torso were covered in what looked like bronze rock **(3)**. He was wearing black pants, an orange sash around his waist, bronze boots, an orange headband and a bronze face mask that covered the lower half of his face.

Not wasting any time, Menma raised his hand. **“Jord's Gleipnir!”** thick vines shot out of Menma's arm and wrapped around Natsuko, who was still immobilized by Menma's runic stone. Natsuko dropped her rapier and grunted as the vines ensnared and constricted her.

“ **I'm not done yet** **…** **”** she heard Menma's rumbling voice say before she saw his lips curve into a wicked smile. _“Gah!”_ Natsuko yelled as thorns burst out of the vines, impaling her all over her body and making her bleed luminescent blue blood **(4)** all over. Natsuko gritted her teeth as she tried to struggle her way out of the vines, which only hurt her further.

Up in the sky, a crow was observing the entire battle with keen interest. Unlike normal crows, this particular one possessed a pair of Rinne Sharingan eyes. _'It seems you could use a little help_ _…s_ _ister,'_ Naruto thought as he watched his siblings fighting each other through the crow he created. Using the crow as a medium for casting spells, he used Kamui to warp the runic stone embedded in Natsuko's stomach away. The crow flew down and perched upon one of the branches of the trees.

Natsuko gasped as she felt the runic stone Menma left behind in her stomach disappear out of the blue, her strength returning to her and her pain fading away as she could liquefy her body again. Menma had not noticed the spiraling vortex that warped his runic stone away and was confused when his sister no longer looked hurt and stopped struggling against the vines. Menma looked around him, but saw nothing out of the ordinary besides a crow with weird eyes, which flew away again.

Menma closed his fist, making the vines tighten themselves even further around his sister, but to his surprise, she didn't so much as flinch. _“Now you've made me angry, Menma_ _…_ _”_ Natsuko's sirenic voice spoke with her hair shadowing her eyes before meeting Menma's glowing eyes with her own. Anger that was written all over her face, her eyes were dangerously narrowed, her nostrils flared and her mouth was quivering, _“_ _…_ _and you won't like me when I'm angry!”_ she screeched with inhuman rage as she clenched her fists.

Menma's eyes went wide with surprise as he saw Natsuko's muscles swelling as she used her magic to create water, which she compressed into her body like a pump-up. Every fiber of her body seemed to be growing all at once as her muscles became thicker while she also grew taller. After a few moments she had finished growing. She was now just as tall as Menma and had thick muscle over her entire body, but without diminishing her beauty as her beauty and curves softened their impact, making her look hard and feminine rather than big and bulky. Her sleeves and boots were slightly stretched around her enlarged arms and legs, and her dress fitted snugly around her upper body.

“ _Haaaah!”_ Natsuko yelled as she broke free of her restraints and she ran at a startled Menma with startling speed. She slugged her brother – the object of her ire – right in his face with a devastating haymaker, shattering his metal mask and sending him crashing through the entire forest he created and leaving vulcan-sized holes behind in said trees. Picking up her rapier, she chased after him.

After crashing through countless trees, Menma came to a standstill, blood all over his face as he lay embedded in one of the trees he created. _**'Ugh**_ **…** _ **I feel like I've been put through the wringer. Natsuko was always a hard hitter because of Sobek's magic giving her greater physical strength than me and Mito, which she multiplied by enhancing her musculature, but still... this is ridiculous! I just don't get why her attack didn't pass through me,'**_ Menma pondered.

Unknown to him, when he caught sight of Naruto's crow, he was placed under his brother's illusory magic which knocked his perception of time a second back, meaning he was already hit before he could turn his body into liquid earth. Not wanting to suffer another hit like that again, he formed a thick armor of rock over his body and began to heal his wounds through the earth.

Seeing Natsuko approaching, he quickly created four earth golems to distract her. One of the golems tries to smash at her with its fists, prompting her to fly up and follow up with a devastating kick which shattered the golem save for its legs. Another golem tried to punch her and its fist was met with Natsuko's own fist, destroying the golem's arm.

“ **Sobek's Water Net,”** Natsuko threw a wide net of thin, razor-sharp strands of pressurized water which sliced through the golem in front of her, the one behind it and the trees in front of her leaving nothing but sliced chunks of rock and wood behind. The remaining golem grabbed her, only for her to easily break free with her monstrous strength and cut the golem into ribbons with rapid series of slashes from her rapier.

Menma cursed at how fast and effortlessly his sister destroyed his golems, considering that he had made sure to make the golems extra durable, even by his standards. As Natsuko made her way towards him again, he tried to halt her in her tracks by shooting spikes of earth from the ground, but she just smashed through them as if she was swatting flies.

Moving on to plan B, he liquefied the ground beneath Natsuko and pulled her down before hardening it. With a swift burst of strength, she broke free with nothing but brute strength. She dusted her dress off, but the lower part was still covered in mud. _“You got my dress dirty!”_ Natsuko angrily complained to Menma, fixing him with a glare full of feminine fury.

“ **Forget about your stupid dress! How the hell can you even cast spells while under the effect of my runic stone?!”** Menma demanded with a booming voice.

Natsuko huffed and washed the dirt on her dress away with a quick burst of water before her expression turned into a combination of smugness and innocence. _“Well, brother dearest…”_ Natsuko spoke in an insufferable sing-song voice, worsened by the alluring quality of her voice, _“…that's 'cause you're weak.”_

Menma was fuming at being called weak. **“Are you calling me weak?!”** he furiously bellowed, prompting Natsuko to nod her head.

Natsuko just innocently looked at Menma and placed her free hand on her hip. _“Uh-huh. You can't beat Mito and from the looks of it, I'm better than you, too. I bet my Ruto-kun would wipe the floor with you as well!”_ Natsuko said with an innocent smile on her face, delighting in riling up Menma as his little stunts have angered her. Her words only incensed Menma even further and he looked ready to blow.

Menma trembled as his anger reached a boiling point, images of his mother and his elder siblings flashing through his mind. **“You...You bitch!”** he roared, causing an earthquake in his anger, **“You're going to beg for mercy when I'm done with you and then I'll kill that failure you call a boyfriend in front of your eyes!”**

Now it was Natsuko's anger which reached a boiling point. _“Don't. you. dare. threaten my Ruto-kun!”_ she screamed and she began to fire blast after blast of boiling water at Menma. The ferocity of the blasts pushed him back, but it didn't manage to break through his stone armor. Menma began to pelt her with blasts of sand in response.

Natsuko appeared behind Menma from a puddle of water and smashed his rock armor into bits with a single punch, knocking him into the ground. Menma released a cry of pain and coughed up blood as he felt his ribs break. He quickly planted his hand into the earth to heal himself, but Natsuko stomped her foot on his hand, prompting another cry of pain from him.

************* Line Break *************

Suddenly, the world shifted and both siblings dropped into a…ocean? Looking around her, Natsuko saw nothing but water. She allowed her musculature to return to its normal size and began to enlarge her size instead. She grinned like a cat who was about to eat the canary as she looked down at Menma, whose expression turned from surprised to horrified as he realized he was at an extreme disadvantage here.

“ _You were going to make me beg for mercy, hmm?”_ Natsuko mocked, her voice staying ever so sirenic, _“I think YOU are the one who will be doing the begging, Menma,”_ she finished with an evil smirk as she her form reached the height of thirty feet. At the same time, Menma hopped onto a stone platform he created, which he used to fly up in the air and out of the water.

“ **Sobek's Devouring Jaws,”** a giant set of crocodile jaws burst out of the sea. Menma tried to fly away out of the spell's reach, but the jaws were too large to avoid and swallowed him up. He felt a crushing pressure which cracked many bones in his body as the jaws slammed shut.

Opening the jaws again, Natsuko used some of the water from her previous spell for a follow-up spell. **“Sobek's Iron Sarcophagus,”** the water reformed into a huge sarcophagus that contained spikes on the inside, not unlike an iron maiden. Clapping her hands together, she slammed the two halves of the sarcophagus against each other. Menma tried to scream in pain as he was pierced all over his body, but his screams were muffled by the water and his oil-like black blood seeped into the water.

Before letting him recover, Natsuko plunged her rapier straight through Menma's torso and drove him into the sea surface, which she hardened to steel-like density with her control over water. **“Gah!”** Menma yelled in pain as he began bleeding profusely and he felt his bones break over again. Pulling her rapier back, Natsuko allowed the hole where she just stabbed her brother to regenerate. She proceeded to restrain Menma to the sea surface and formed a giant harpoon of water in her free hand. **“Sobek's Water Javelin!”** she threw the giant harpoon at Menma with great force, which pierced through him as if he were made of paper, leaving a wide gaping hole behind in his gut.

Copious amounts of blood poured out of Menma's mouth and gut. Natsuko would continue this pattern for quite a while, letting his wounds heal before mercilessly assaulting him again. She rent his flesh with water crocodiles which tore into him, literally taking a piece of him. She punctured him with all kind of water constructs, ranging from simple spikes and pointy swords to drills. She broke his body all over as she repeatedly blasted him with blasts and cannonballs of water. She dismembered him various times with whips of pressurized water.

Natsuko pointed her rapier at Menma. **“Sobek's Water Drop,”** water condensed around the upper part of the blade before being fired as a blast, resembling a crocodile tooth. The blast ripped straight through Menma, who could only scream as his enraged sister continued to exact her wrath on him. Natsuko fired a couple more of these blasts from her rapier, alternating between blasting off a limb and blasting through his torso between small pauses to let Menma regenerate.

Raising her free hand up to the sky, a giant mass of swirling, bright blue water formed above her and grew until it was five times her size. **“Sobek's Water Cascade!”** she threw the water at Menma in the form of an immense and wild torrent, breaking almost every bone in Menma's body at impact.

Again water swirled around her free hand. **“Sobek's Devouring Torrent,”** she shot the water at Menma, causing the large torrent to crash into him, draining a huge chunk of his magic from him, weakening him further.

Menma lay panting as the continuous regeneration was straining him heavily. He sank into the water as Natsuko 'softened' the sea surface, filling his lungs with water and squeezing the life out of him by raising the water pressure to levels no human being could withstand.

Meanwhile, Naruto was amused to no end as he remotely watched his sister putting Menma through the wringer. Through his crow, he had used Amenominaka to transport Menma and Natsuko to his ocean dimension because he wanted to see what his sister could do when she was in her element. Satisfied with what he had seen and having wrapped up his fight with Mito, he decided to teleport his siblings back to his core dimension.

************* Line Break *************

Natsuko noted that just as suddenly as the world changed into an endless ocean, the world changed back to the place she had been fighting Menma before. Menma coughed up water and dug his hand into the ground to recover his strength. Natsuko was about to create rain in order to continuously drain Menma's magic and negate his attempt to heal himself until she heard Naruto's voice behind her.

“You really did a number on him, Natsuko,” Naruto said.

Natsuko turned around to see him with his arms crossed and an amused expression on his face. A crow with the same eyes as him was perched on his shoulder. She dispelled her rapier and shrank down until she was 8 feet tall and greeted him with a brilliant smile.

“ _Ruto-kun! You're back! Uhm_ _…w_ _here's Mito by the way?”_ Natsuko asked.

Speaking of Mito, Naruto took a brief moment to compare his sisters in their goddess forms. He noted that while Mito resembled a warrior goddess, Natsuko looked and sounded more seductive and classy. Nevertheless, she radiated the same kind of power that Mito did, just to a lesser degree.

“I knocked her out,” Naruto casually answered as if was no big deal, which to him, it wasn't really.

“ _Y-You actually won? You beat Mito?”_ Natsuko gaped at hearing this. True, she decided to trust Naruto when he stayed behind to face her big sister alone, but to hear he had actually defeated her unbeaten sister was still unreal to her and on top of that, he looked unscratched!

“You sound surprised. I told you I'd be fine, didn't I?” Naruto chuckled at seeing Natsuko's flabbergasted face. Before he knew it, he was wrapped in a very tight hug with his head stuck between his sister's globes.

“ _I never doubted you! Off course you would be fine because you wouldn't want to miss out on our date!”_ Natsuko joyfully proclaimed with an earsplitting smile as Naruto sweatdropped at his sister's antics and although nobody could see it, he was blushing as he sister pressed him even tighter against her body.

“--Can't breathe!” Naruto rasped out between muffled cries. Natsuko caught this and let up a bit. “You mind…letting go of me?” he asked, trying to keep his face as straight as possible, although he couldn't suppress the blush that was still visible on his face.

“ _Yes! I like holding you like this!”_ Natsuko countered, making Naruto sweatdrop again. Their little moment was ruined when the Menma swung an earth staff at the two of them with enough force to smash through a human, hoping to at least kill Naruto.

Natsuko released Naruto and caught the staff with her free hand. She swung Menma away, who landed on his feet and glared at him for interrupting her moment with her Ruto-kun. Natsuko stepped forward to engage Menma again, but was halted by Naruto who held his arm out, barring her way.

“I'll take care of this…runt,” Naruto said. He wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to put his little jackass of a brother in his place.

“ _Oh Ruto-kun, my shining knight, taking up arms for his beloved_ _…_ _”_ Natsuko melodically chuckled. She made no attempt to stop him. If he could beat Mito, then he could beat Menma too and she wanted to see him in action as well. _“Kick his butt for me, Ruto-kun,”_ she said with a wink, making a deadpanning Naruto mutter “Right…” under his breath as he walked forward to engage Menma.

Menma had shrunk to the size of a human, reformed his rock armor again and summoned his broadsword. **“Ugh, gag me! Seeing you two like that is disgusting!”** Menma yelled before turning his gaze towards Naruto.

“ **Oh you've got to be kidding me! You're going to fight me? A mere human?”** Menma asked, before bursting out in laughter – which sounded like the earth was rumbling – at the thought of a human fighting a god, **“I'm going to crush you like an insect!”**

Naruto formed black, metallic rods, which he called Black Receivers, from the palm of his hand and threw them into four directions. The Black Receivers allowed him to transmit his magic and spells into them.

Transmitting a Jutsu Shiki spell into the Black Receivers, a large, barrier composed of magic runes was erected, with the Black Receiversserving as the corners of the barrier's square formation. It was a barrier which imposes rules on those who were trapped by it. Once the barrier walls were formed, Naruto proceeded to turn the barrier into a cube to prevent Menma from escaping through the ground or by flying up.

“ **Hahaha! You just trapped yourself in here with me! You're even more stupid than I thought!”** Menma roared in laughter.

Naruto just grinned at the prospect of knocking Menma's bravado down to earth, which would be highly ironic considering his brother's god magic was derived from an earth goddess. “Alright, let's go!” Naruto said.

“ **The hell are you thinking** **…** **”** Menma began to ask, not expecting his brother to react like this. Naruto released a battle cry and slammed into him shoulder-first before he could react, knocking him over and crashing against the ground. He quickly rolled back to his knees and was about to stand as a pair of hands gripped him by the sides of his head with monstrous strength, eliciting pained grunts.

“This barrier I created prevents anyone inside from using elemental magic except for creating stone armor. We're going to do this old school, _little brother_ ,” Naruto explained with a wicked grin.

The Jutsu Shiki barrier he created indeed forbade the use of elemental magic. This would prevent Menma from using most of his tricks as Naruto was not in the mood to throw around large scale spells right now and it would take care of that pesky elemental intangibility trick each of his siblings had up their sleeves. He allowed the use of Menma's magic to create stone armor, just because it was more humiliating to Menma that way.

“ **Keep your filthy hands off me,** _ **human**_ **!”** Menma spat out, grabbing Naruto's arms in an attempt to free himself from Naruto's ironclad grip as he was hoisted up.

Naruto grinned wickedly before a delivered a hard head-butt to Menma's head, causing a large vertical crack to run down the stone armor on his face. He grabbed Menma's face by the crack he had just created and ripped a large piece of the stone armor from his face, staggering Menma as it felt like his skin was ripped off.

Before Menma could recover, Naruto knocked him down to the ground with punch to the face. Menma quickly got back to his feet by cartwheeling backwards, narrowly dodged a low uppercut from Naruto, who had bent to his knees.

Menma was forced to move back as Naruto pressed forwards. He gripped his sword with both hands and began to make horizontal swings as he moved backwards, only for Naruto to bat his sword away each time with his bare arms. After a few slashes, Naruto batted his sword away with enough force to unbalance him a bit, shifting his weight to his left side.

Menma tried to take advantage of his weight being shifted to the left by putting his weight behind his punch with his left fist. Naruto just blocked Menma's punch with his arm and looped his own left arm around Menma's to trap it. He proceeded to throw a punch at Menma's face, which he narrowly avoided by leaning his head and upper body to the left. Menma dodged another punch by leaning to the right and ducked under a right hook.

Naruto grabbed Menma by his neck and lifted him up, using his other hand to restrain Menma's attempt to kick him. “Human? Try primordial being! I'm not one of those warmongering maggots. I could break a god in two…with my bare hands!” he claimed and with that, Naruto threw Menma up into the air. Menma let out a long yell as he was thrown high up into the air, like a spinning cannonball.

“Don't mess with me, little brother!” Naruto exclaimed as Menma fell down. He gave Menma a thunderous kick, before his falling form could hit the ground, launching him against the wall of barrier with a sickening crunch.

“ **Agh!”** Menma grunted as he fell to the ground. Menma's stone armor was cracked all over and the only reason his bones weren't broken was because his armor absorbed most of the force. With some difficulty, Menma shakily stood up, using his sword as support.

“ **What the hell are you** **…** **?”** Menma asked, not understanding how his brother could be doing this to him. His mother had always told them how weak Naruto was, so he didn't understand how this was possible.

Naruto chuckled in a taunting manner, “Heh, why don't you stick around and find out?”

Feeling mocked, Menma began to see red. He plunged his sword into the ground and coated the edges in razor-sharp crystal and charged at Naruto. He made an overhead slash with his sword, putting as much strength behind his slash as he could.

“ **What?”** Menma's gaped with wide eyes, astonished that Naruto effortlessly caught his sharpened blade with his hand while the ground behind Naruto was cracked by the force of his strike.

“Nice knife…” Naruto smugly said. With a flex of his grip, he broke Menma's sword in two, shocking his brother even further. He followed up with an uppercut aimed at his face, which Menma barely avoided with a back-flip. Menma created some more distance between them by making a few more back-flips. When Menma turned his eyes back to Naruto, he was greeted with a brutal punch to the face, sending him sliding over the ground for quite some distance, the friction having grinded away most of the leftover armor on his lower jaw. A small trench remained behind in the ground to show where Menma was send by Naruto's punch.

Menma stood up and clutched his chin for a brief moment, noting that his face armor was completely destroyed. Looking at the broken sword in his hand, Menma turned around and threw it at Naruto with an angry cry as he ran at him.

Naruto just smacked the projectile away and dodged two punches before catching Menma's fist with his hand when Menma tried to deliver a straight punch with a stone-encased fist towards Naruto. “You fancy yourself a god? You're just another human,” Naruto condescendingly said.

“ **Shut up!”** Menma said through gritted teeth before Naruto pushed him back.

“All you care about it is feeding your over-inflated sense of importance,” Naruto accused as Menma attacked him and was countered. Menma tried to slug Naruto in his gut, but he blocked his attack with his right arm and quickly hit Menma in his chest with a backfist, making him briefly wheeze.

Menma followed up with a kick towards Naruto's left knee, which he countered by kicking Menma's shin with his left foot followed by a back-kick to his gut, causing Menma to bend over.

“That, and your mother's approval!” Naruto continued while he jumped at Menma and delivered a punch at him, which Menma blocked by holding his arms out crossed in front of him. The stone armor on his forearms was still shattered, though.

“You have no principles, just like everyone else!”

“ **Gah!”** Menma howled as Naruto grabbed his shoulders and jumped up to deliver a knee to his face. A low sweeping kick from Naruto took him the ground. Menma touched his face with his hand and saw it was covered in his black blood when he pulled his hand back.

“If everything goes to hell, you're just another maggot crawling in the pile,” Naruto finished. Menma's anger reached its boiling point once more as his brother was calling him a maggot…a weakling! _**'I'm a god in this form**_ _ **…**_ _ **I cannot lose, not to him! I won't be thrown out by mother because she will call me weak! I have to prove I'm strong!'**_ Memna thought as his inferiority-complex and superiority-complex reared their ugly heads.

Encasing his fists in runic stones imbued with agony runes, Menma roared and attacked Naruto again. Naruto effortlessly dodged Menma's strikes with minimum movement before lunging at Menma's neck once more, strangling him. Menma lunged at Naruto's neck in an attempt to force his brother to release him, but Naruto didn't seem affected in the slightest, despite the use of his runic stone. Naruto just grabbed his arm and forcibly moved it away, making him release his grip on Naruto's neck.

Grabbing both of Menma's hands with his own, both brothers tried to overpower each other. Both brothers butted heads, which resulted in Menma groaning as he wondered what Naruto's skull was made of. Naruto moved his arms up, giving him leverage over Menma and pushed him down to his knees.

“Tsk, you hit like a human!” Naruto mocked his little brother. He delivered a quick knee in Menma's face and followed up with an uppercut to his face, making Menma's head spin as he got back to his feet, only to receive another punch to the face that made him turn around and bend over as he spat out a glob of blood and bile.

Naruto grabbed him by the back of his head and brutally planted his face into the ground, eliciting another cry of pain. Never having let go of his head, Naruto hoisted Menma back to his feet and released.

He cracked his knuckles before delivering another thundering punch, causing Menma wobble on his feet, dazed as he felt like he had a concussion. Before Menma could recover, Naruto already sent Menma sprawling to the ground with a forward kick.

Naruto quickly walked up to his brother as Menma shakily tried to get to his feet. “Considering that you've been such an insufferable son of a bitch during my stay at the castle, it pleases me to no end to see you like this: on the ground, like the worm you truly are,” Naruto coldly spoke. Naruto brutally knocked Menma down to the ground again as he just got up, creating cracks where he hit the ground.

Blood leaked from Menma's mouth as he tried to get up once more, only for Naruto to stomp his foot on his back, planting him firmly in the ground, causing the armor on his back to start cracking. “You only have yourself to thank for this,” Naruto said as he stomped his feet on Menma's back again, breaking the cracked armor on his back. Menma could only groan in pain as Naruto dug and twisted his foot deeper.

“ **What the hell are you** **…** **talking about** **…** **?”** Menma wheezed out between hard breaths.

Naruto took his foot off Menma and took a step back. “You really don't get it, do you? You're in this situation because you are so set on murdering me in cold blood!” Naruto exclaimed before kicking Menma, who grunted as he was flipped over, now lying with his back to the ground.

Menma coughed a few times, feeling sore all over. **“That's your fault for being weak! You shame our family with your weakness! The weak deserve to be purged!”** he screamed.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. “What would you know about 'the weak'? You weren't born poor!” he said angrily as he stomped his feet down on Menma's chest, knocking the wind out of him. “You've never been hungry!” he continued his tirade, stomping Menma again, “You do not know what it's like to steal and kill just to survive!”

With his piece said and in a fit of anger, Naruto increased his body weight by using the Earth Style: Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Jutsu, enhancing his own gravity, before he began stomping on Menma again. He just kept stomping without abandon as Menma screamed blue murder before jumping and stomping down on Menma with both feet before finishing up with one final stomp.

Menma lay there panting for breath, his rock armor destroyed and the ground beneath him cracked. His bones were broken and it was only the regeneration that came along with his god form that allowed him to survive Naruto's onslaught, although a small voice in the back of his mind told him Naruto was going easy on him, which only incensed him further.

Menma got back to his feet and looked at Naruto. **“I don't care** **…** **I WILL kill you and prove that I'm not weak!”** Menma snarled. Driven by his anger, Menma reformed the rock armor around his fists, appeared before his brother in the blink of an eye and punched him straight in the stomach with as much strength as he could muster in his battered condition.

Naruto didn't even budge or flinch as he just looked at Menma with boredom. Menma began to unleash a barrage of lightning-fast punches, but each punch had as much effect as previous one: none. Naruto just dusted off his shirt.

Menma's temper got the better of him again as he saw how effortlessly his supposedly weak brother shrugged him off like he was nothing and began to unleash another barrage of punches, too enraged to realize it was useless. With a burst of adrenaline, Menma poured all his strength in a dragon kung fu style strike with both of his fists at the same time, which only succeeded in pushing Naruto a few feet back.

“Wow, you pushed me back…by four feet! Godly strength indeed, good on you!” Naruto laughed while clapping his hands, enjoying Menma's ever increasing anger at his inability to hurt him.

“ **Why won't you die?!”** Menma's rumbling voice roared.

Naruto smirked as the nails on his right hand elongated, turning into razor-sharp claws and ran his claw over his chest, shredding through his clothes and skin, showing nothing but bone, making Menma's gasp in shock. “Dead Bone Pulse, Menma. I can manipulate my skeletal structure as I see fit. I have grown an extra dense armor of bone beneath my skin. You can't hurt me!” Naruto explained with a wicked grin on his face.

Overcoming his shock and better judgement, Menma ran to Naruto and punched him in his face, causing him to just turn his head a bit.

“What did I just say?” Naruto rhetorically asked before returning the favor with a punch, enhanced by his magic, sending Menma flying to the other side of the area and into the barrier before plummeting down to the ground.

Naruto quickly moved over to Menma with a burst of speed from the Body Flicker Jutsu. Naruto lifted Menma up and began to channel lightning magic through his hand, electrocuting Menma for an entire minute, making him scream in agony.

“Time to end this,” Naruto coldly said as he started draining Menma's magic out of him. Feeling his magic leave him very quickly, Menma's expression turned into one of horror as he realized what Naruto was doing. In a matter of moments, Menma's god form faded away.

“Let that be a lesson to you, Menma,” was the last thing Menma heard before losing consciousness. Naruto just tossed Menma's limp body to the side and dispelled the Jutsu Shiki barrier, as Natsuko quickly caught up with him.

“ _That was awesome, Ruto-kun!”_ Natsuko gushed happily as she jumped towards Naruto and hugged him.

Instead of trying to get Natsuko to let go of him, Naruto just smiled. It was a small smile, but a genuine one. “You did well on handling Menma too, Natsuko,” he said, returning the compliment.

“ _Thanks! But uhm_ _…_ _you were with Mito, how could you have seen us fight?”_ Natsuko asked with her head slightly tilted, giving her an innocent look.

As if on cue, Naruto's crow flew down and perched on a nearby tree. “You see that crow over there?” Naruto asked, to which Natsuko responded with an “uh-huh” sound.

“I created it from nothingness and breathed life into it. Through its eyes, I could remotely watch you and Menma. That, and I helped you out a bit by warping that annoying black stone out of your stomach and teleporting you to my ocean dimension,” Naruto explained, causing an earsplitting smile to break out on Natsuko's and her eyes to twinkle with happiness. She hugged him even tighter. Naruto just let her do as she pleased as he let everything that happened today sink in.

A portal formed next to Naruto and a clone of his emerged from it, carrying Mito. The clone put Mito on the ground and dispelled itself. “And now that we're all here, it's time to return to Earth Land,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. As he finished his sentence, the world shifted instantaneously as Naruto used Amenominaka to teleport them back to Earth Land.

************* Line Break *************

Naruto and Natsuko were once more surrounded by the forest they were in before Mito and Menma arrived. Only a few second after they arrived back in Fiore, both Naruto and Natsuko felt a familiar magic coming from above, magic that was so powerful that both knew it could only belong to one particular person.

Naruto looked up to see a thunderstorm brewing with crimson lightning flashing through the sky, _'Looks like mother dearest is having a tantrum_ _…_ _'_

**End of Chapter**

**======================================================================**

_**A/N:** _

_**(1) Natsuko's battle dress is basically the same as the 'Mystic Martial Set' from an MMORPG game called Cabal Online.** _

_**(2) Imagine the rapier from the Regent of the Mask from Ninja Gaiden 3, which has a blade that can be using for cutting attacks as well. The only difference being that this rapier is made from ice instead of metal.** _

_**(3) Menma's skin is like Tremor's from Mortal Kombat X, except he is covered by bronze instead of normal rock. It is basically a bronze version of Tremor's golden skin in his “metallic mode”. I basically turned his blood into oil as oil is found inside the earth.** _

_**(4) Natsuko's blood is based on the luminescent "ink" that certain species of squids are able to secrete like vampire squids. Basically her blood in her transformed form is squid ink that is blue and glows because it's full of luminescent particles.** _

_**And there you have it, Menma got his ass handed to him twice in a row and not gently either.** _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**As usual, my thanks to npcfan for his help. He has written several pieces of his chapter, which I have slightly modified afterward. Likewise, he has modified pieces that I've written as well. In that sense I suppose I could dub him as a pseudo co-author of sorts. :)** _

_**And my thanks to Joker619 for Beta reading my work in order to filter out my spelling and grammar mistakes.** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

Kushina was sitting on her throne, dressed in a long, emerald green dress with a V-shaped opening that went down to her navel, barely covering her chest and putting her cleavage and the majority of her taut stomach on display **(1)**. She accessorized her dress with a cloak of falcon feathers, golden spiral-shaped earrings, a golden necklace with a spiral-shaped, jade pendant attached to it, and a golden belt made of chain links with a spiral-shaped buckle. The spiral was the Uzumaki symbol **(2)** ; the symbol she had chosen to represent her and her offspring after she had transcended her human existence.

She had been observing Naruto from a distance since Mito had brought him to her castle. It was evident that the difference between now and then was like night and day. The boy she had cast out and left for dead, was a gentle and compassionate soul with great love for life. The current Naruto was almost completely the opposite from the boy she remembered; this Naruto was much colder.

Her firstborn had become ruthless as she found out when she learned that he had wiped out many dark guilds. His unwillingness to kill, his soft heart, his love for life were the things that made him weak, the things that kept him from becoming a divine being like his siblings. But now, she could swear at times that it was like looking at a mirror when Naruto was cold or stoic; he had become much more like herself. It pleased her greatly to see that her son had moved past the weakness that she failed to stomp out of him, and that his demeanor now showed more resemblance to her instead of his…sire.

It hadn't gone unnoticed to her that Naruto spent most of his time in the library, for reasons unknown to her. If she had to hazard a guess, it probably had to do with the reason he left for Fiore. There were still matters left unanswered, but her long life had taught her patience; answers would come to her sooner or later anyway and she had all the time in the world.

Currently she wondering what was going on. She had noticed all four of her children had left the castle and while she didn't care about what they were doing, she was surprised that she suddenly couldn't detect their presence anymore. There was little that could hide from her nearly all-seeing sight for the sun and moon were her eyes; she saw everything that was touched by the light.

Lesser beings would not have been able to handle and process the massive input of visual stimuli that came with this ability, but as a goddess, her mental faculties were far beyond that of a human and allowed her to literally process everything she could see through the sun and moon real-time.

Right now, her eyes were glowing silver, like the moon, showing that she had linked her vision to the moon as it was nighttime. The last thing she saw was her children gathering in south-east Fiore, not very far away from civilization before they abruptly vanished without a trace. Considering the supernatural sight and sensory abilities she had at her disposal, it was all the more startling to lose track of them just like that.

Just as suddenly as her children had vanished, she saw them reappearing. Her eyes shot open wide with surprise when she saw Menma and Mito laying battered and unconscious while Natsuko and Naruto looked perfectly fine. A thousand thoughts were running through her mind at once as she analyzed the available facts and tried to figure out what just had happened.

 _'Mito was defeated by…Naruto?'_ Kushina thought with great shock. At first she was inclined to believe that Naruto had bested Mito with Natsuko's help, but Menma's presence squashed that train of thought. There was only conclusion left: Naruto had defeated Mito by himself. She considered her oldest daughter a paragon of strength, truly raised in her likeliness. The mere thought of her strongest child being defeated by her firstborn – who she had deemed weak and human – shocked her greatly.

 _'So you have grown strong after all…my son,'_ Kushina thought and a small smile formed on her face. She prepared to bring her children back home in order fill in the blanks of what had transpired this evening.

************* Line Break *************

Naruto passively looked at the storm above him. It was an unnatural storm of his mother's making as he could tell from the feel of her magic. He recognized the storm magic as his mothers'. A grimace formed on his face as he remembered how his mother had used streams of that same crimson lightning on him as a punishment during his childhood.

The storm picked up before the crackling clouds began to shape themselves into a form that looked like Kushina's upper body. A large crimson bolt of lightning formed in the storm construct's right hand, ready to be hurled at a moment's notice.

Naruto used his Rinne Sharingan to see what his mother was going to do. Naruto frowned as he analyzed the thunderbolt his mother's construct was going to throw down. _'She took a page out of Zeus' book eh? That's not going to be an ordinary lightning strike though, there's a spell interwoven with the lightning bolt…a teleportation spell by the looks of it. How novel…'_

Kushina's storm construct abruptly threw the lightning bolt at him and his siblings. A bright red flash and the deafening sound of thunder blotted out everything. The flash was gone as swiftly as it came, revealing that there was nobody in sight anymore.

************* Line Break *************

In a moment's notice, Naruto found himself standing in his mother's throne room with said witch sitting in her throne. She looked frigid and collected as ever, but he was pretty sure she wanted answers. He just folded his arms over each other and waited for her to speak up.

Kushina's eyes darted between the unconscious forms of Mito and Menma before settling on Natsuko and simply ordered, “Explain.”

“Well, we kinda fought with each other…” Natsuko began to tell sheepishly. Kushina arched an eyebrow, prompting Natsuko to continue. “Naruto fought with Mito and I fought with Menma and after Naruto wiped the floor with Mito, he kicked Menma's ass!” she crowed with a big grin on her face.

“Both of them?” Kushina asked as she turned towards Naruto. The only signs of Kushina's surprise, were the brief widening of her eyes and the slightly incredulous inflection in her voice. Naruto just rolled his eyes, but did not bother to answer.

Kushina held out her hand, which began to glow white. Her unconscious bodies of her children were enveloped in Kushina's healing magic as she rejuvenated them just enough to return them to consciousness. Mito and Menma groaned as they slowly stood up and noticed they were standing in front of their mother.

Mito was wondering how she was standing here. Naruto had killed her after all, hadn't he? Or was everything just a figment of her imagination? She was confused and her mother's soul-piercing stare didn't help either.

Menma on the other hand, was not so confused. His brother had humiliated him through trickery. If it wasn't for the Jutsu Shiki barrier that prevented him from using most of his powers, he would have wiped the floor with the bastard! Right now, he was more worried about whether his mother would belittle him or not.

“Natsuko just told me that both of you lost to your elder brother,” Kushina bluntly spoke, causing Mito and Menma's eyes to become as wide. Although it was still unclear why she was alive, Mito was now sure that her defeat was not just a bad dream; it really happened.

Menma on the other hand had assumed that Naruto simply managed to ditch Mito. He had never been able to defeat his older sister in a one-on-one fight, so the thought of his older brother being able to defeat her was preposterous. He knew Naruto must have used the same kind of trickery he used against him.

“Daughter, is this true?” Kushina asked her oldest daughter without the slightest hint of emotion.

“It's true, Mother,” Mito spoke softly, dropping her head in shame. Her eyes glassed up as she fought back the tears that were threatening to spill. She – her mother's prodigious daughter – had lost and she felt like a disappointment, no, a failure. She couldn't let herself break down in front of her mother and disgrace herself even further.

“Did you go easy on your brother again?” Kushina questioned, recalling that her daughter had not taken her firstborn serious during their first fight.

“…” Mito just kept looking down and her voice failed her. Kushina narrowed her eyes at her daughter's demeanor and lack of response.

“Mito Uzumaki!” Kushina snapped, “Answer me!”

Mito flinched and looked up to meet her mother's eyes again as she was still trying to keep her tears at bay. She tried to answer her mother, but Natsuko beat her to the punch.

“Mito didn't go easy on Ruto-kun, Mom.”

Kushina sharply turned her gaze to her other daughter. “Then you can tell me how this came to be since your sister has apparently lost her tongue,” Kushina asked, with a tone of annoyance added to her usual cold voice due to Natsuko speaking out of turn. A loose tear escaped from Mito's eye at the barb she received from her mother.

“Err…well, I was kinda busy fighting Menma, but Mi--” Natsuko began, fidgeting to come up with an explanation to give her sister some breathing space.

“Then do not answer on your sister's behalf if you were not there, and do not speak out of turn,” Kushina cut her youngest daughter off, causing Natsuko to gulp and remain silent.

Turning her attention back to Mito, Kushina repeated her question in a tone that did not promise anything good for Mito if she failed to answer her, “Now, did you go easy on your brother or not?”

“I-I went all out. H-He was just…too strong,” Mito shakily answered and with that, more tears began to stream across her face.

“I see…” Kushina said, stroking her chin, adopting a thoughtful expression.

“This is ridiculous!” Menma shouted, “The failure just used dirty tricks, he can't even match us in power; he's a lowly human, just like you always told us!”

“Yet you were defeated by him. Do not raise your voice against me because you were too weak to overcome his 'tricks' as you put it,” Kushina sternly rebuked her youngest son.

Menma gritted his teeth at being called weak by his mother. “But…!” Menma began to protest.

Kushina harshly silenced Menma, “Silence! Remember your place,” shutting Menma up immediately, knowing that his mother would punish him if he kept pushing the matter.

“Now leave, all of you,” Kushina commanded her children. Mito, Menma, Natsuko and Naruto turned around to leave, until Kushina spoke up once more, “Except for you, Naruto.”

Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned back to see what Kushina wanted. His siblings gave him a brief look before quickly leaving the room, not wanting to anger their mother. With a flick of her hand, Kushina caused the door to slam shut. Mito and Menma respectively rushed and stomped off to their chambers, while Natsuko decided to wait outside the throne room.

Naruto gave Kushina a blank stare and folded his arms, waiting for her to speak up.

“During your stay at my castle, I have observed you to see how far you have come since I cast you out. I held low expectations of you to begin with, considering the hopeless case you were all those years ago, but you have surprised me. You have met and surpassed all of my expectations,” Kushina began stoically.

“It is clear to me now that I made the right choice when I spared your life back then. Your time on your own has made you strong where my guidance did not. You have proven your worth and from here on, you have earned the right to call yourself my son,” Kushina continued. Her voice stayed even, although it was intertwined with a tinge of what sounded like pride.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, struggling to keep the overwhelming urge to kill his wretch of a mother at bay. The only reason he did not give in to his urges, was because his magic was unstable, though soon it would be stable once more and that's when he would avenge himself. If he attacked her now, she could pull the rug out from under his feet and he was in no mood to die and reform if he could help it.

“I earned the right to call myself YOUR son? A little late, don't you think? What makes you believe that I even care about something meaningless like that anymore?” Naruto snorted, “Better yet, what makes you honestly think you have the right to consider yourself MY mother?”

“Watch your tongue, son,” Kushina warned Naruto, “You will show me the proper respect I am entitled to as a goddess and as Lady of the House. I have acknowledged you as my child and that you have risen above those broken humans. Take pride in that instead of getting cross with me.”

“And you ask what gives me the right to consider myself your mother? I brought you into this world, it's that simple,” Kushina answered with her head held high.

“That wasn't enough reason for you to treat me as your son though,” Naruto coldly told her, “But…the opposite holds true as well. The fact that you gave birth to me is not enough reason for me to see you as my mother. Make no mistake, I would sooner see you dead for the things you have done to me than acknowledge you as my mother.”

“What I have done back then was for your own good. If anything, you should be angry at yourself for not having been stronger back then. There would have been no need to cast you out had if that had been the case. Now drop this pettiness. Hatred is a human notion and it has no place for beings of our station,” Kushina firmly responded before snapping her fingers.

“My own good, huh?” Naruto retorted with obvious disgust at the woman standing before him,

“You've got some nerve to tell me it's MY fault that you beat me to a pulp? That it's MY fault that I ended up wounded and overexerted by your ridiculous 'exercises'? Or that it's MY fault that you kept me on the edge of starvation? You even forced me to hunt for my own food at the grand age of seven, and before that I only 'enjoyed' the leftovers you so graciously let me have! You almost murdered me when I was ten! And then you go on to justify your punishments on me, by saying it's MY fault for being unable to meet your insane expectations when I was but a child?!”

“You are completely out of your head or you simply hated me for whatever ridiculous reasons you had. Either way, it's all the same. No matter what, you would've always found another reason to put me down. Even if I were as strong as Mito back then, it would have made no difference, or am I wrong…Kushina?” Naruto snarled.

Kushina narrowed her eyes and red electricity sparked around her right hand. She was tempted to electrocute her petulant son for his outburst against her, but she quickly calmed her anger because in a sense, Naruto's anger over his treatment by her held some legitimacy, even if it was meant to strengthen him.

In the years after casting him out, she had reflected upon her methods and she had come to admit to herself that she was somewhat too harsh to the point of being counter-productive. She had rectified that mistake with her other children. Not that she had gone soft on any of them; she simply went less far than she had done with her eldest.

“I have rearranged your room to something more suitable for a child of mine. Now, see yourself out,” Kushina commanded and with that, the doors opened again.

“Hn,” Naruto grunted. He turned around and walked out of the room without saying anything.

Kushina just stared at the door. _'So there is still some humanity left within you, Naruto. No matter, you will sooner or later learn to leave behind your hatred – the last vestige of your humanity.'_

************* Line Break *************

The door slammed shut behind him as Naruto exited the room. He had heard what his mother had to say and he saw no more reason to stay here. He was making his way out of the castle until his sister's voice stopped him.

“Are you alright, Ruto-kun? Was mom angry with you?”

Naruto turned towards Natsuko and told her gruffly, “No, she wasn't angry. She told me that I had…earned the right to be called her son.”

Natsuko was surprised by this, but she was also happy to hear that her mother accepted her brother as part of their family.

“That's great!” she cheered, but her excitement died down as she saw that Naruto didn't seem to share her joy at all. “I mean, that's good, right?” she tentatively asked.

“Good? There's nothing good about it at all! It's ridiculous, that's what it is! I shouldn't even have to earn the 'right to call myself her son'. If anything, she is not worthy of being my mother after all she has put me through,” Naruto ranted before calming himself down and releasing a sigh, “Sorry, it's not your fault. It's just…it really pisses me off, you know?”

“It's okay,” Natsuko said. She looked nervous and began to twiddle her thumbs. “Ruto-kun?” she nervously asked, as if she was about to ask a question of which she feared the answer.

Naruto wondered why Natsuko was nervous. “Yes?”

“Are you…leaving?” Natsuko choked out. He had been so adamant about leaving ever since Mito had brought him here. She knew that besides the date he had promised, she may hardly see him again, if ever.

“Yeah. I…I believe it's for the best,” Naruto solemnly answered, causing Natsuko to tear up and get choked up.

Naruto looked at his sister with pity, which was not something he had not really felt in a long time. He knew she had taken a shine to him, but he didn't know she would take his departure this hard. He gently brushed her tears away. “Shhh…it will be alright.”

“No, it won't!” Natsuko cried. Naruto embraced her, letting her cry her heart out on his shoulder and she clutched him tightly like a lifeline, as if he would vanish for good if she let go of him now. “I don't want you to go! I'll…I'll miss you…so, so much!” she sobbed, “I…I love you.”

Naruto's eyes widened. _'She…loves me?'_

As he pondered her admission, her behavior since he had been brought to what had been his prison for the last several months began to make sense to him. With Mito, he felt like she saw him as some kind of possession she could own just because she wanted him. With Natsuko, he had written her behavior off as simply being clingy because she had only just gotten to meet him; he figured he was just 'interesting' to her.

There was no denying it anymore. He knew now beyond any shadow of a doubt that she actually cared about his feelings; she showed this when she comforted him...and when she chose to stand with him against Mito instead of helping her. Had she cared more about her own wants, she would have sided with Mito without a second thought.

Natsuko looked up to him with teary eyes and loud, desperate pleas that gave her voice strength even whilst she was sobbing, “Please don't go! Tell me you'll stay here with me! Promise me you won't leave me! Please!”

Naruto felt his heart sink as he looked into her violet orbs and heard the sorrow and desperation in her voice. He had resolved to leave this wretched place as soon as he had undone the seal because he did not want to remain around his mother any longer than he had to. He wanted to tell Natsuko that he had to go, that he could not stay here.

But now that he saw how much leaving would hurt and torment this sweet, precious creature in his arms, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't know how she had done it, but she had somehow managed to become important enough to him that he couldn't find it in himself to do anything to bring her such sadness. He estimated that it would take a few months before his magic would be stable after so many years of being sealed. Until then, he could endure his mother's close proximity for her sake.

Naruto leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. “Shhhh, Tsuko-chan. I'll stay. Just for you,” he whispered soothingly, causing Natsuko's teary eyes to widen.

“R-Really? You'll stay?” she sniffled. She had to know for certain, she had to know that she was not dreaming.

“Yes, I will,” Naruto reaffirmed with a soft smile, causing a smile to form on Natsuko's face, “Now let's wipe away those tears. Can't have that beautiful face spoiled by puffy cheeks and bloodshot eyes, can we?” Naruto said, gently wiping her tears away.

Natsuko blushed slightly and gave a shy giggle before hugging him tightly once more, uttering a muffled “Thank you” as she held him tight out of happiness this time instead of desperation.

After a few minutes, she fell asleep, exhausted by everything that had happened today. Scooping her up in his arms, Naruto headed towards her room. Once there, he placed her on her bed and gently brushed her temple.

He was about to leave the room when he felt Natsuko grasp his hand. She gave him a look that begged him to stay – to stay with her tonight, to reassure her that she was not dreaming, that he was staying for real.

“Don't go,” she quietly pleaded, “Sleep here with me, tonight.”

Naruto gave her a warm smile and nodded, letting her know that he wouldn't leave her and he began to undress himself.

Natsuko did the same, throwing her clothes to the side as she dressed down to her bra and panties. When Naruto lifted his shirt over his head, Natsuko gave a sharp gasp, and her hand flew to her mouth as – for the first time – she got a good look at Naruto's body. She had seen him in the hot spring in nothing but his swimming trunks, but through the steam, she had not seen what she was seeing now.

His upper body was riddled with sickening scars. The one that stood out the most, was a large, angry, wicked scar over his chest and part of his stomach. It was a horrible sight.

“Wh-who did this to you?” Natsuko asked with a quivering voice.

A pained look flashes over Naruto's face as he remembered how he got his scars, “Your mother did this.”

“Wh-what? Why?” Natsuko stammered out, shocked that her mother did that to her older brother. Her mother was harsh, very much so, but this wasn't just harsh – this was excessive and needlessly cruel! She never remembered her mother being that way. She couldn't understand what drove her mother to inflict such horrible scars on her brother.

Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes, “It's…not something I enjoy talking about. I will tell you in time, just not right now.” he said uneasily, silently asking her to drop the matter for now. Natsuko nodded to make clear she would let him talk about it when he was ready to do so.

With a forlorn smile, Naruto climbed into his sister's bed and lied down next to her. Natsuko looked at her brother and her eyes filled with tears once more. Hearing her soft sobs, Naruto turned to look at her and brought his hand to her cheek.

“What's wrong, Tsuko-chan?” he gently asked.

“It's just…I'm just so happy you're staying,” Natsuko said between sobs, “And…I love the way you call me, too.”

Naruto looked at her, stunned, confused, and lost for words. She had said she loved him when she begged him to not leave her, but staring deep into her eyes…that was an entirely different thing. Those eyes cried tears of joy, expressing the happiness she felt because he stayed for her, but most of all, her eyes were full of love – love for him.

He couldn't deny what he saw and it confused him greatly. What about him made her happy to be around him? What made her love him – he who had never been loved? How could she make him feel this way when his heart was so hardened after all those years of hardship and suffering? Once upon a time, he had known friendship, only to be betrayed by those he trusted, but he had never known love. He was so confused…her feelings, his feelings…all of it confused him so much and he couldn't understand it. The only thing he knew, was that he did not want to let go of this alien feeling of warmth in his chest; he hungered for more.

One look in her brother's eyes told Natsuko all she needed to know. It told her that he finally realized what her feelings were – even if he did not understand the full depth of it. Following her instincts, she slowly leaned in to Naruto and kissed him on the lips.

The moment her lips touched his, Naruto took a sharp exhale through his nose. A moment later, he responded to her kiss, pressing his own lips against hers. He snaked his arms around her form and gently pulled her on top of him as she brought her own arms around his neck and buried her fingers in his hair.

Naruto, in a sudden moment of impulse or clarity, he didn't know which, opened his mouth and slid his tongue into the bluenette's mouth, causing her to gasp the same way he did when she initiated the kiss. Her gasp became a loud moan of pleasure as she closed her eyes and started sliding her tongue against his own, both of them deep within the mouth of the other. After a few minutes, they both separated, breathing heavily.

“That was…” Natsuko whispered, “…that was…wow!”

“Uh-huh,” Naruto responded, “Me too…”

Both of them simply looked at each other, each smiling softly and affectionately at the other. When Natsuko noticed that both of their eyelids were getting heavy, she suggested, “Why don't we pick this back up in the morning?”

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed, “That sounds good. It's been a long night.”

Five minutes had not even passed before both of them had fallen fast asleep, Natsuko lying on top of Naruto, with Naruto holding her in his arms.

************* Line Break *************

Menma was furiously pacing through his chamber. His chamber was just as lavish and filled with luxurious furniture as the other rooms in the castle. The walls and ceiling of the room resembled a cavern and was encrusted with all kinds of minerals, while an elaborate mosaic stone flooring in the shape of a giant tree completed the decor.

Right now, Menma was enraged with everything that had happened tonight. “How could this have happened?! How could I have lost to him…a mere human?!” he seethed, feeling deeply humiliated.

His older brother was supposed to be a weakling, yet he was the one who ended up receiving a beat down and at his supposedly weak brother's hand no less! It made him so angry, especially because he knew that bastard didn't win because he was stronger. No, it was just because Naruto relied on negating his power. That wasn't power; it was the act of a cowardly piece of trash! As far as he was concerned, his brother had definitely not defeated him.

And to add insult to injury, his siblings claimed the failure defeated Mito! Mito of all people! It was bullshit! There was no way that Naruto could have defeated Mito when he himself couldn't beat her even once in a one-on-one duel. If that wasn't bad enough, his mother just bought it too and called him weak, WEAK! All he did was rightfully point out that Naruto didn't defeat anyone at all!

His mother calling him weak was the worst part of the entire evening to him. He gritted his teeth and trembled as images of his family flashed through his mind. They infuriated him so much when they insinuated that he was weak whenever he lost a duel against his older sister. “Aargh!” he roared in anger as he threw the vase he had unconsciously grabbed against the wall, shattering it.

He hated it so much whenever anyone even suggested he was weak, he wouldn't stand for it. Being weak would mean he would end up like his older brother. He refused to end up like Naruto, he would not be thrown out and spoken of like worthless trash.

He wouldn't let this humiliation slide. He would prepare himself for Naruto's dirty tricks and then he would crush him once and for all. He would prove that he was strong beyond any doubt!

_'Enjoy your last days, because next time we fight I will end you…Naruto!'_

************* Line Break *************

Meanwhile, Mito was lying on her bed with her face buried in her pillows. She was bawling her eyes out. The night had been beyond disastrous! It had completely upheaved her entire paradigm of herself, her life and even her ideals! Things she had taken for granted and lived her life to this point building upon had been shown to be wanting at best, falsehoods at worst.

She had professed her love for the object of her affection – her beloved older brother – and he rejected it. This horrid ache in her chest…it hurt so much, unlike any pain she had ever felt before. The thought that Naruto hated her so much that he wouldn't even consider accepting her love, that he wanted to flee from her, fight her, or even elect death above her company…it was unbearable to her!

She felt tormented over the questions that until now, she didn't have the first clue how to answer; the very questions that she had been asking since she'd brought Naruto home and his reactions just didn't any kind of sense to her. Why was he so rebellious against her? What had she done wrong? Why didn't he love her back? What was it about her that made him hate her? She was a goddess, she was powerful, and she was drop-dead gorgeous. She got that he was angry with her forceful behavior at first, but she went out of her way to accommodate his feelings. Surely that should have assuaged him?

Although she fell short next to her mother in terms of beauty and power, any man would kill just for a goddess like herself to even look at him. She offered her heart to Naruto, but he didn't want it! She couldn't wrap her head around it. Why wouldn't he want to be loved by someone like her? These were answers she didn't have an answer for, until now.

When she the way he looked at her when he stabbed his hand in her chest with those hollow eyes of his, the feeling of being killed by the one she loved, was like a stake through her heart. It was in that moment that she finally found the answers she'd been seeking to all of those questions. She had finally realized why Naruto had been so angry with her. When they met, she tested him, set on killing him if he proved to be weak. She had actually tried to kill him when she was disappointed with his power before he sprang his trump card on her.

Even though she was apparently not dead, her 'death' felt so real. She did not know what exactly happened and in her current state of turmoil, she could not figure it either, but she knew one thing for sure: she felt heartbroken when Naruto 'killed' her, and she could now imagine quite vividly how Naruto must have felt when she'd tried to do him in, first.

Finally having received a dose of her own medicine, she couldn't fault Naruto for his anger even the least little bit. Until now she didn't understand the hopeless weight of finality or the sheer terror that one felt when they were about to die at the hands of another until she experienced it firsthand. She was even more tormented over the realization that she had not even done anything to set things right. Instead she had just put it out of her mind, treating the matter as if it were water under the bridge, as if it was perfectly normal to try and kill your sibling under the guise of 'testing' him – something that she now knew could only have angered Naruto even more.

That she could have ever considered killing her precious big brother, that she felt she could force him to do what she wanted, to stay with her, just by virtue of her power, filled her with a deep sense of self-loathing. All of this made her feel ashamed and disgusted with herself, it made her realize what a horrible sister she was.

Her crushing defeat at her brother's hands shattered her 'might makes right' mentality. She thought she could have brought him back, by force if necessary, and then shower him with her love back here at the castle. She was so sure he would have returned her feelings in time and that thought drove her to try her hardest to subdue him, but it didn't work out that way as Naruto countered with overwhelming power – power he did not show before for whatever reason.

Her mother's reaction to her defeat, although paling compared to the pain she felt from realizing she drove Naruto away, only served to worsen the tempest of emotional turmoil that was currently tossing her mind and heart about in its fierce and unforgiving winds.

The worst part about everything was that tonight had likely driven him away from her forever. He would be gone tonight and he would probably never want anything to do with her again! She wished she had realized her folly sooner. She wanted to rage at the unfairness of having no way of learning the lesson that pain and heartache were now teaching her! But it didn't matter anymore; it was too late. Tomorrow he would be gone from her life and with that knowledge, she continued to sob even harder in the privacy of her room, repeatedly muttering his name, unheard expressions of regret, and pleas for forgiveness between sobs.

“I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun, forgive me, please…I'm so sorry!”

She repeated her apologies almost like a mantra, losing track of time as she did so, before the whisperings got softer and more muffled, eventually ceasing altogether as she fell into a fitful sleep.

************* Line Break *************

Naruto woke up to the pleasant quietude of the early morning hours, feeling well-rested for the first time since he'd been forced to stay in this evil place. Turning his head towards the walls, he could see the first signs of light within the waters outside the room – dawn was approaching. He felt a brief shift as the weight upon his body entered his notice, causing him to look downward to the blue hair and sleeping face of his Natsuko, her expression one of blissful, serene peace.

 _'Hmm…I wonder why I think of her as mine?'_ he mused to himself as a content smile slowly made its way across his face, _'Maybe this is how she feels when she says I'm her boyfriend. This feeling…it's actually kind of nice.'_

Naruto chose to content himself with lying in bed and gently stroking Natsuko's azure strands, taking care not to move too suddenly so that she could continue to enjoy her slumber. As his fingers accidentally brushed up against her cheek, Natsuko let out an unconscious moan of contentment and smiled slightly, snuggling closer to Naruto as she continued to slumber. He found it rather curious when he noticed that even though she had supposedly fallen asleep with a brassiere on, she was now completely nude from at least the waist up.

Once the full light of dawn glimmered in the water and illuminated the room in a pastel orange glow, Natsuko stirred and opened her eyes, looking up towards Naruto's face and smiling at him.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Natsuko greeted him lovingly, her smile reflecting the love he could hear in her soft, melodic voice.

“Good morning, Tsuko-chan,” he greeted her just as softly with a smile of his own.

At his greeting, she slowly wormed her way up towards his face, using her body to caress his own, and planted a gentle, sensual kiss upon his lips. Both of them snaked their arms around each other and closed their eyes as their kiss deepened, yet still remained calm, slow and gentle, each of them indulging in the sweet taste of the other's tongue, savoring it.

They pulled apart a few moments later, with Natsuko rising to sit upright and supporting herself with her knees, straddling Naruto's stomach and showing him her wondrous, beautiful bare breasts. She closed her eyes, intertwined her fingers together and reached as high as she could, stretching her body in an attempt to wake her muscles up and get her blood flowing. When she brought her arms back down and opened her eyes, she noticed that Naruto was quite transfixed upon her nude form, blushing in arousal, but also wearing a slightly nervous expression.

With a warm smile, she asked, “Do you like what you see? Do you like my body, sunshine?”

She brought her hands to the outsides of her breasts and pressed them together slightly while lifting them up, “I want you to love my body. I want you to be captivated by what you see.”

Naruto simply gulped and gave two slow nods. Natsuko smiled slightly wider and found one of his hands with hers, taking it and bringing it slowly up to her corresponding breast. When she sensed a slight tug against her, she bent forward slightly and kissed the hand he was trying to pull away.

“It's alright, Ruto-kun,” she assured him softly, “I want you to touch me.”

“Errm…I, err…I guess I'm just…not used to this, you know?” he stammered, “I guess I just thought we would wait at least a little while before we started doing…well, this kind of stuff.”

“Well, it wouldn't hurt to help things along, would it?” she offered with a smile that became somewhat shy, as did her voice, “This way, we can both get used to…being intimate with each other. Don't you think?”

His answer was simply to stop tugging against her hands and allow her to guide his to where she wanted it to be. She slowly guided it to her waiting breast, and gently pressed his palm against her nipple, enclosing his fingers around the mound surrounding it. He softly began to knead her warm flesh on his own initiative, earning soft gasps and pants of pleasure from her. Spurred on by her mewling, he brought his free hand to her other breast and began to perform the same ministrations to her other globe.

Natsuko took this moment to bring her hands down to his own torso and stretch her hands and fingers across his pecs before she began to caress as much of his skin as possible. Even through her own pants, gasps and moans, she could hear his breathing quicken as well. A few moments later, she felt something hard and cylindrical poking against her backside, bringing a smile to her face as she knew it was his fully-aroused manhood.

“Natsuko…” Naruto began, “…about being your boyfriend…I will give it a shot, if you'll have me.”

Natsuko smiled ecstatically and quickly leaned forward, slamming her lips into his and shoving her tongue into his mouth much more passionately and with much more energy than she had when she first woke up. Naruto's hands hadn't left her breasts, and he was still kneading them while hungrily kissing her back with just as much intensity.

When they separated once more, she lovingly looked at him and said, “You don't need to ask. We were a couple ever since that magical moment – when our lips touched for the first time…” and with a wide grin, she exclaimed, “…but still, hearing you say it yourself…that fills me with joy. And for the record, yes, I'd love that! And…I love you!”

“I…I don't really know what love is, but I want to find out…I do know that what I'm feeling is new to me. Maybe this is what humans call love?”

“Oh I'd say it is! Now, come on…say it!”

“I…I think I…love you too…?” Naruto stammered uncertainly.

With a pout, Natsuko admonished, “Think? I know you can do better than that.”

Naruto took a breath and held it for a few seconds before shyly telling her, “It's just…how can you tell you love someone if you don't know what it is? I mean--,” before she silenced him with a brief kiss.

“Shh…just say it,” Natsuko encouraged.

Naruto took a breath and held it for a few seconds before blurting out, “I-I love you too!”

With a warm smile, Natsuko teased, “See? That's better. Was that so hard?”

Naruto said under his breath, “No,” pausing before adding, “No, it wasn't…”

They spent the next two hours simply kissing and fondling each other, adjusting to the sensation of the physical touch of each other before rising from the bed to bathe each other and clean each other up before preparing for the day ahead.

************* Line Break *************

Later that morning found Naruto playing his flute to himself in the castle's central interior courtyard. The smooth, ethereal tones of the notes he was playing were helping him to think about and plan his upcoming date with Natsuko. He was going to take her to the Harvest Festival in Magnolia, which would be in a few days from now. It would be his first date and if he was going to do this, he was going to make sure it was memorable. As such, he had preparations to make.

At any rate, he was in a pleasant mood, but his mood was not to last as he detected his mother's presence drawing near. He stopped playing and a frown marred his face at the sight of the woman he regarded as nothing more than his egg donor.

“What do you want?” he asked plainly, his annoyance at the idea of dealing with this woman evident in his deadpan.

Kushina rolled her eyes before brushing his annoyance off with a shake of her head and telling him, “You will join the rest of the family for our meals from now on.”

Narrowing his eyes in a confused frown, he sneered and responded sarcastically, “And why would you suddenly bestow such an honor on…I believe your own words were, a 'worthless waste of space whose presence befouls your home' such as myself?”

Narrowing her own eyes in turn, she continued to respond evenly and coldly, “Because you have proven yourself worthy of being my son, and as such, you are part of this family now. You are no longer a waste of space, and your presence is no longer befouling to me or my home. You are a resident in this house now, and I expect you to act accordingly. I'm being very patient with you at the moment – I advise you not to test that patience, my son. You will join us for our meals from this moment forward, starting with lunch in two hours. You will take the place to my immediate right, which is the highest place of honor at my table besides the head where I sit as the Lady of the House.”

“If I agree to join you and the others for meals, will you leave me in peace?” Naruto retorted through gritted teeth, his annoyance with his mother increasing with each passing moment.

“For the time being, I will,” Kushina answered calmly, “But bear in mind that I will not continue tolerating your lack of respect or your petty hatred of me for long. As I said, I am being very patient with you. Testing my patience is something you will come to regret if you keep it up.”

She turned and began to walk away, when she suddenly stopped as Naruto spoke up, “You might want to keep Menma on a tight leash, Kushina…” he could almost feel her bristle at his use of her name, “…I would hate to spoil dinner by having to deal with him personally.”

“Menma knows how to behave in my presence. And if he forgets himself, I will remind him. You need not concern yourself with his behavior.”

“Hn.”

“Will that be all?” Kushina asked him evenly once more.

“I guess I'll see you at dinnertime,” Naruto dismissed her with no warmth in his words or tone at all.

Kushina proceeded to walk away from him, not turning back, but hearing his footsteps fading as he walked off in the opposite direction.

************* Line Break *************

It was time for dinner and Naruto made his way to the dining room. It turned out he was a bit on the early side as only his mother was sitting there.

“Son, I'm going to announce to the others at dinner that as of yesterday, you have proven that you deserve to be here and that you are as much a part of this family as your siblings…” Naruto tried to interrupt, but Kushina raised her hand to cut him off, “…please refrain from speaking until I am done.”

Naruto was sufficiently surprised by the fact that she was speaking to him civilly to actually keep his mouth shut.

“Now, as I said, I will be announcing that you are as much a part of this family as your siblings, and you will be accorded the seat to my right – the greatest place of honor beneath my own at our table. This is symbolic of your place in this family. As such, I am ASKING that you refrain from making disruptive comments or showing disrespect. Regardless of your grievances against me, I am being respectful to you right now. In turn, please be respectful to me as I have asked, if for no other reason than that this is my home.”

“Fine…since you ask so nicely,” Naruto dismissively said before lowering himself in the chair to Kushina's right, “I'll refrain from being disruptive or rude as long as you don't push my buttons, but do not think for a moment that I will show you any respect. After all, respect is earned, not given.”

“Behave yourself, Naruto. I will ignore your…'slip of the tongue' this time, but do not make a repeat performance of this snarky behavior of yours,” Kushina sternly warned.

Naruto paid no heed to Kushina's unspoken threat. He rested his elbows on the table and his head on his clenched his hands as he waited for the rest to join them.

After a few minutes, Natsuko, Mito and Menma entered the dining room as well. Although Natsuko was obviously not surprised Naruto was in the castle, she was surprised Naruto would be sitting here with the rest of them.

Mito released a shocked gasp. “You're…still here?” she quietly asked, to which Naruto only gave a short nod.

“But…why?” she pressed on, unable to comprehend his continued presence in the castle.

“Because Natsuko intercepted me before I could leave and asked me to stay…” Naruto glanced around the table ending his gaze at Kushina, “…no other reason than that.”

Kushina frowned ever so slightly at his admission. She hadn't realized that he had intended to leave last night, believing that since she had given him a place in her family, he would want to call the castle home from now on. Knowing that asking him about it, and the likely unpleasant conversation that would ensue, would be unseemly at the dinner table, she allowed the matter to slide for the time being.

Menma's eyes went wide as he saw HIM sitting to his mother's right side. He knew what that position signified and it made him livid, but he wisely chose to remain silent, not wanting to risk his mother's anger.

After everyone took their seats at the table, dinner was brought in by Kushina's dolls, dressed as maids and butlers.

“Before you start eating, I have an announcement to make,” Kushina spoke up, “As you noticed, your older brother has joined us as well.”

Seeing she had everyone's attention, Kushina continued, “Although it has taken him quite a while, he has proven his strength and I have acknowledged him as my son and your brother. That means he is as much a part of this family as each of you are. Also, take note that your current positions at this table is no mistake. In light of yesterday's events, I have deemed it fit for Naruto to sit next to me on my right side. With that said, enjoy your meal.”

Naruto inwardly bristled at Kushina's audacity. It wasn't the announcement itself, but she had the nerve to sound proud! He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, keeping the retort that laid on his tongue to himself.

Kushina noticed this and frowned. She didn't understand why her eldest looked so displeased. As a child, had he not wanted to call her dwelling home? Had he not desired her praise and acknowledgment? Here she sat, having given him both of his childhood desires, yet he was not happy. At least he refrained from vocalizing his displeasure. She was broken out of her thoughts when Menma slammed his fist on the table.

Against his better judgement, Menma was unable to repress his anger any longer. His mother called him weak after Naruto 'defeated' him by dirty means and now she was basically calling Naruto – who she had been disdainfully spoken about – as strong. The fact she intentionally had Naruto sit where Mito normally sat only showed how absurdly much she was now praising him.

“Mother, Y-You can't be serious!--” Menma began to protest, “The weakling?! The one you always told us never to be like?! And now you're giving him a place of honor ABOVE US?!”

Naruto just shot Menma a sidewards glance, but gave him no mind. It wasn't worth his attention.

Kushina fixed Menma with a stern glare, “One more word out of you and I will lock you up in the dungeon for the next few days with your magic bound. I will not warn you a second time: Do not question my judgment or my decisions again.”

“Y-Yes, Mother,” Menma gulped and shrank under his mother's glare. He definitely didn't want to be locked up, so he quickly shut up and began eating.

The others started eating as well. Dinner was a quiet affair. Menma did not want to incur his mother's wrath, Naruto and Kushina opted to remain silent before either of them annoyed the other, Natsuko figured it was best to not say anything right now and Mito was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to engage in small talk.

Mito was simply shocked and confused to see Naruto here when he had been so adamant to leave in the first place. But why would he want to leave after receiving their mother's blessing to be a part of the family? And how was Natsuko able to convince him to stay? What did she say to him to persuade him when Mito herself couldn't do so, even under the threat of force? She was so certain she had driven Naruto away forever and it was only last night that she finally understood why he had been so angry with her. Despite seeing him here, her feelings of hurt that came with last night's epiphany overshadowed any joy on her part.

“If you'll excuse me, I will retire to my room, now,” Naruto said in a low voice when he had finished his meal. Kushina paused for a moment, once again reflecting upon his anger, before giving him a nod.

He stood up and left the dining hall, turning towards his room once he walked through the doors that served as the dining room entrance, not saying another word and not looking back. If he had, he would have seen Mito's pained confusion over him, Natsuko's sadness over his dourness and Kushina's frown morphing into a grimace that belied further confusion at being unable to read or figure out her eldest son, and why he was still so angry despite her giving him what he had always wanted from her.

Once Naruto entered his room, he noticed what Kushina meant when she claimed she had rearranged his room. Kushina had not only magically increased the dimensions of the room to make it several times larger than it previously was, but had also materialized ornate furniture, made from the finest materials, to fill the formerly empty room. The simple bed and table had been replaced with a luxurious double-king-sized bed with silk sheets and pillows and comforters of the finest down, and an exquisite mahogany desk adorned with the highest quality writing materials and utensils. The room had also been furnished with an armoire and a dresser, both magnificent in their design and also of mahogany.

The floor was now of white oak hardwood paneling and the walls were white marble with golden veins with alcoves that contained golden eagle statues. The wooden door had become a polished golden door that shimmered like a hologram that had lightning bolts streaked down its length. The most impressive feature however, at least to Naruto, was the ceiling.

Looking upwards, he saw a perfect magical representation of the sky outside, mirroring the weather without any of the unpleasant effects. The mimicry of the sky was so exact and so perfect that one would believe there was no ceiling at all, and that the roof simply opened upon the heavens. An impressed look crossed his face despite himself and his resentment towards the architect of this room.

Naruto grudgingly had to admit that Kushina had taste when it came to decorating her home, and his room was no exception.

Opting to inspect his bathroom later, Naruto unsealed a blank painting and began to work on a painting of his girlfriend in her goddess form. He had burned the image into his mind with the Rinne Sharingan, so he could work with that memory.

He continued working on his newest painting until the ceiling had changed to a clear starry night sky, indicating that it was getting late. He threw his clothes next to the bed before jumping in. He made himself comfortable in his new bed – which was more comfortable than any bed he had laid on before – and fell asleep not much later.

**End of Chapter**

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_**A/N:** _

_**(1) The dress Kushina is wearing is the same in design as that of Morgan Le Fay from Marvel comics, except with different and additional accessories.** _

_**(2) Kushina's symbol is the same spiral as the Uzumaki Clan Symbol.** _

_**This chapter was not the action-filled confrontation with Kushina some people might have been hoping for. The showdown with Kushina will have to wait for a while as there are some things I need to do before that happens.** _

_**As for why Naruto is not yelling and ranting at Kushina? Well, he is many things, but he is not without manners and he is in her home by his own choice as he chose to stay with Natsuko. He will be 'politely' snide and sarcastic most of the time when someone says something he doesn't likes as he tries to keep his temper at bay. In his mind, Kushina's days are already numbered anyway, so he can afford to bite his tongue for a little longer.** _

_**On a side note, I am also going to work on a new story called “The Masked Habanero”. I had not intended to work on multiple stories at once because it means I would have to split my time and attention, but I simply couldn't drop this idea, which is unique and never done before as far as I know. It is a Naruto x Kushina story and a crossover with The Mask. For those who have never seen the movie or the animated series, it's basically about an antique mask which gives its wearer ridiculous cartoon-based powers and basically unleashes an alter ego based on the wearer's inner desires/inhibitions. In this story, Kushina will come into possession of The Mask and harbors a romantic crush for her son which she is to afraid to act upon by herself. The setting is in Shippuden, Kushina fell into a coma and this Konoha is generally less tolerant of Naruto, although not to the point of beating him at every turn or 'fox hunting' him annually. There are more details to it, but you'll just have to read to find out once I publish the story. I hope you'll check it out when this story is up! :)** _


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**As usual, my thanks to npcfan for his help and for writing the lemon scene. I had great difficulty with that part as it turned out I'm not that great at writing lemons.** _

_**I apologize that it has taken this long to release this chapter. See the Author's Note at the end of the chapter and my profile page for more info on why it took my so long to update. Also, I have rewritten the first seven chapters to improve the grammar and writing style. Certain dialogues have been polished a bit, and some things (like Natsuko's and Menma's clothes) have been adjusted.** _

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**Start of Chapter**

The village of Konoha was filled with loud and angry cries for justice. People from all over the village had gathered en masse in the market square around a large stake on top of a pyre with a young, blonde-haired man who looked about twenty-years-old tied to it. Even now as the crowd was hurling rotten tomatoes and cruel profanities at him, he could not believe how his life had turned upside-down in a blink.

“That's enough!” barked a stern and commanding voice, instantly silencing the crowd. An aged man, wearing a red hat, white haori and a red, full-length kimono that was tied using a white sash, emerged from the crowd. The kanji for 'fire' was written on the front of the hat and designated the man as Konoha's leader, referred to as the Hokage: Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Naruto raised his head just high enough that he could see the Hokage look at him with a stoic expression that one naturally developed in this war-torn world after so many years that could not completely hide his disgust towards him.

“Naruto Uzumaki,” Hiruzen spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear, “For the heinous rape and brutal murder of Hinata Hyuuga, the council of Konoha has condemned you to die by burning…sentence imposed by my advisers and I. Do you have anything to say before the sentence is carried out?”

His heart stopped beating and tears rolled over his face, which was contorted into a horrified and fearful look at hearing he would be executed for something he hadn't even done!

“No…no, no, no…I…I” Naruto whimpered, before his whimpers turned into loud shout, “…I DID NOT DO IT! I'm innocent! I have not even so much as touched her! Please…you've got to believe me! I--”

“Argh!” he cried as a glass bottle thrown from the crowd hit him straight in the face, leaving cuts behind over his face and silencing him immediately. He winced from the pain as his blood dripped down over his face, mixing with his tears. The crowd – outraged by his pleas of innocence – began to loudly yell and scream at him.

“Shut up, you filthy rapist!”

“Murderer! How dare you?! You took our Hyuuga Princess from us and you have the gall to lie about it too!”

“Burn in hell, you monster! By the Rabbit Goddess, I hope it hurts!”

“Lies! Nothing but lies!”

After everything he'd been through…how could it end like this? What had he done to deserve this? How could everyone betray him just like this? How could his brother in all but blood have betrayed him like this? Over the last few years, he had come to consider these people as friends and now those same people were screaming bloody murder at him, unwilling to believe in his innocence despite all the good he had done. Every scream felt like a hammerblow against his fragile heart, unable to cope with the feeling of being betrayed.

“Don't take us for fools. As much as our community was shocked when you showed your true colors, the evidence is undeniable – your lies will not help you avoid justice,” Hiruzen harshly sneered, not even bothering to mask his contempt for him, “Were it not for young Sasuke, you might have even gotten away with this travesty. Speaking of which, Sasuke Uchiha, come forward!”

A young man with black eyes and spiky black hair – that somehow resembled a duck's butt – came forward at the Hokage's beckoning and respectfully addressed the aged village leader, “What would you ask of me, Lord Hokage?”

“Despite your close relationship to your…brother…” Hiruzen began, shooting a sidewards glance at Naruto when saying 'brother', “…instead of covering up for him or defending him, you chose to do the right thing. Thanks to you, the truth behind young Hinata's gruesome fate is exposed and justice will be served. You have demonstrated that you possess the Will of Fire, that you are an upstanding citizen of Konoha, an example for others!”

After he ended up in Edolas through an Anima, he stumbled upon the pitiful raven-haired boy whose family was massacred by his older brother, Itachi. Being alone himself after his mother cast him out and left him for dead, he saw a kindred spirit in the boy, a fellow lonely and hurt soul. Despite being just a year older than him, he had offered the boy to join him. He had looked after him, taught him how to survive, and even taught him magic. They had become siblings in all but blood. Despite everything, when the news of Hinata's fate caught the village by storm, Sasuke 'exposed' him as the culprit. He had never seen it coming. Hearing the Hokage praise Sasuke for betraying him – his big brother – on top of the villagers' loud approval to said praise made him feel more and more sick with each passing word.

“For your courageous actions, I ask you: will you carry out the sentence?” Hiruzen asked Sasuke as he handed him a torch which he just lit with magic.

Naruto's head jerked towards Sasuke, whose eyes had widened…as if he had not expected this. He felt a small spark of hope at seeing the conflicted look on Sasuke's face. Maybe his little brother's conscience caught up and realized the weight of his actions now that he saw how far things have escalated. Just as quickly as it appeared, that little bit of hope left him when Sasuke's conflicted expression gave way for grim determination as he walked towards Naruto with the burning torch.

“Brother…please don't do this…” Naruto desperately pleaded, too soft to be heard by the crowd, “…did everything we've been through meant nothing for you? You know I haven't killed Hinata, let alone raped her. It's still not too late to tell the truth.”

Sasuke paused for a moment and clenched his eyes shut as if he struggled to keep nostalgic feelings and sentimentality at bay before they could make him waver. He shook his head as he said with a slightly strained, but otherwise emotionless voice, “I have already told the truth. You have brought this on yourself, Naruto. You're not the same brother I looked up to anymore. Goddess have mercy on your soul.”

That was the drop that spilled the cup for him. He had not felt this betrayed since his mother threw him out and almost killed him in the process. Despair and sorrow evaporated and gave way for unadulterated, righteous anger. He looked at Sasuke with pure hatred in his eyes and he snarled “How dare you…how dare you betray me like this after everything I've done for you?! Miserable traitor! I curse you!”

Sasuke visibly flinched at the pure hatred in his voice before quickly bringing the torch to the pyre, setting it aflame. He made his way back into the crowd, apparently uncomfortable with the situation and in a hurry to get out of here as quickly as he could.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Naruto cried on top of his lungs as his feet caught fire. “DAMN YOU, SASUKE! DAMN YOU TO HELL! I HATE YOU!” he managed to scream between his agonized cries. He continued to scream in agony as the flames spread further up and over the rest of his body, setting his whole being aflame and burning him alive.

************* Line Break *************

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Naruto took stock of his surroundings and noticed he was no longer on fire, or in Konoha for that matter. His breathing was haphazard and irregular while he regained his bearings. _'It_ _was just a bad dream_ _…'_

“Ruto-kun? What's wrong?” Natsuko's concerned voice asked him, startling him. He had been so engrossed in his nightmare that he had not even noticed that he had woken up his sister – who had apparently sneaked into his bed and snuggled up tight to him.

Naruto closed his eyes, took a calm breath and sighed. “I'm fine, it's…nothing,” Naruto answered, unwilling to talk about that particular memory.

Natsuko stared at him for a moment. She could tell that he did not want to talk about whatever disturbed him this much. “You sure? You don't need to feel embarrassed if you need a listening ear,” she said, moving over a bit closer to him and softly brushing her hand over arm.

Naruto fixed with her with a stern gaze as his agitation got the better of him. “I said I'm fine,” he snapped harshly. His eyes softened immediately upon seeing his girlfriend wince and sighed, “Sorry, it's just…it's just not something I like to speak about.”

Natsuko frowned at her brother's unwillingness to open up, but decided not to prod too much for now. That didn't mean she would let him get off scot-free though. Looking slightly down in front of her with an expression that had sadness written all over it, she pouted, “But you were mean to me…”

 _'Good going, Naruto, now you made her sad…'_ Naruto thought exasperatedly. “Tsuko-chan,” he said, getting Natsuko's attention, “Look, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to sound that harsh.”

“Hmm…”

He gently caressed her face with his hand, “We're good?”

Natsuko seemingly though about it, taking her sweet time, before she dropped the sad face for a cheery one as if someone hit a switch and glomped Naruto, letting the bed sheet that covered her modesty as she did so. Despite having been touchy with each other the previous night, Naruto was still blushing a little bit as she pressed her body against his and she giggled at seeing the effect she had on him. Part of her mind was already imagining how her boyfriend would respond when she pressed her transformed, naked body against him.

“I'll take that as a yes,” Naruto said. He put an arm around her and was confused when Natsuko began to giggle – especially when that giggle began to sound…perverted? Then it dawned on him that she's wasn't sad at all – she was just playfully messing with him! He wasn't angry or annoyed though; instead he felt amused at his sister's antics – it was funny in a way.

“Alright, alright, that's enough messing around, Tsuko-chan. Since we're awake, we might as well get up,” he said.

“Messing around? ME?” Natsuko said innocently. A sultry grin formed on her face and she purred in his ear, “How about we mess around for a little while? It's still early.”

Naruto didn't get a chance to respond before she captured his lips and dragged him back under the sheets. The sound of moans resounded through the room as the two of them kissed and groped each other for the next hour before getting out of bed.

************* Line Break *************

“Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it'd be crowded here today!” an excitable feminine voice exclaimed. Said voice belonged to none other than Natsuko, who was holding Naruto's arm. Today was a special day in Magnolia town as its citizens were celebrating the harvest and Naruto had picked this day of festivity for their date. The streets were filled with festival decorations and excitement was in the air.

Natsuko was wearing a long-sleeved, off-the-shoulder, black lace bodycon dress that reached down mid-thigh, highlighting every contour of her body and displaying her shapely, caramel-colored stocking-clad legs in a classy and sensual way. Her outfit was completed by a pair of black high-heeled pumps. She had let her hair freely cascade around her face and over her shoulders and had applied makeup: she wore matte fuchsia lipstick, her nails were painted blue and her violet eyes were brought out by smokey blue eyeshadow.

Naruto too was dressed for the occasion. He was wearing a crisp blue button-up shirt with a black tie, black slacks and black leather shoes. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up just below his elbow, giving him a more relaxed look – something which was further reinforced by the fact that his hair still retained its usual spikiness.

“Off course it is, people are celebrating the Harvest Festival today,” Naruto said.

“Uh-huh, so…when are we going to see this parade you mentioned?” Natsuko asked with both eagerness and impatience.

“We still got over an hour before the parade starts,” Naruto remarked, “Besides, I want to take you somewhere else first. Have some faith, you'll get to see the parade…and you'll like the place I'm taking you to. Why the hurry?”

“Because it sounds fun!” Natsuko pouted. Naruto chuckled at her somewhat childish attitude.

As Naruto led them through town to the restaurant he had in mind at. Along the way, the fresh couple drew quite some stares and more than one double-take at the very good-looking couple while walking down the streets, which both of them naturally ignored.

They soon arrived at their destination – a building with a reddish brown brick facade architecture which housed a restaurant with an outdoor patio. Large windows and red frames covered the front of the building, putting the inside of the restaurant on display for passersby, illuminated by a cozy, soft, yellow-orange lighting. The restaurant's name, "Mario's & Luigi's", was on display above the windows and along the width of the building. From what Naruto had gathered, this place specialized in pastas and in particular in something called pizzas – he had no clue what this pizza thing was besides having heard that his sister loved it.

A megawatt smile broke out on Natsuko's face as she saw what kind of restaurant Naruto had taken her to and she didn't waste any time to give her boyfriend a kiss on his cheek, leaving a lipstick kiss mark behind.

“What was that for, Tsuko-chan?” Naruto asked – being his somewhat dense self when it came to these kind of things – as he wiped away the lipstick from his cheek.

“For being so sweet and taking me out somewhere they serve my favorite food,” Natsuko beamed. She practically dragged Naruto with her in her enthusiasm. “Come on, let's get inside already!”

As soon as the couple stepped in, they could smell the scent of pizza and stone ovens coming from the kitchen – an entirely new experience for Naruto. The staff took sight of them and the host – a middle-aged, black-haired man with a mustache – went to politely greet them, “Good evening, welcome to Mario's & Luigi's,” and asked, “My name is Mario and I am your host and waiter tonight. Can I prepare you a table for two?”

Naruto nodded and replied, “You can.”

“Ah, splendid! Do prefer a table inside or would you prefer our outdoor patio?”

Casting a quick look at Natsuko and answered, “The outdoor patio, please.”

Mario led them back outside, seated them at a table for two. He asked them what they wanted to drink. Naruto ordered wine for the both of them since from what he gathered, that was supposed to be romantic. Not a minute later Mario returned with a bottle of red wine and filled their glasses. He then gave them a menu card each so that they could choose what they wanted to eat before giving them some space.

“Ooh, there's so much to choose from!” Natsuko exclaimed and asked, “Do you know what you want, Ruto-kun?”

“Well…this stuff is unfamiliar to me,” a puzzled Naruto answered before asking, “I mean, what's pizza?”

“No way! You don't know what pizza is?!” Natsuko gasped, to which Naruto only shook his head, “Ruto-kun…how can you NOT know what pizza is!?”

Naruto blinked his eyes before he shrugged, “We didn't have this where I lived,” and mentally added _'Or rather, we had none of this back in my time.'_

“That's blasphemy!” Natsuko exclaimed before gesturing around them towards other people who were dining, “Look around you, silly! Most people are eating pizza here!”

Naruto's eyes fell on the flatbreads with toppings that most people were enjoying and there were so many different varieties as well! He glanced back at the menu card and realized he was stuck with the same problem Natsuko was facing – the same problem he often had with ramen as well: too much choice. The corner of his lips curled ever so slightly when he read 'custom pizza' and began to scribble down on a scrap a paper he pulled out of his pockets, using his finger as a makeshift pencil by using his magic to produce black ink on his finger-top.

It was then that Mario returned and asked, “Did you manage to make a choice yet?”

“Well…” Natsuko started, but was cut off by Naruto.

“Actually, I'd like to order a custom pizza for the both of us,” Naruto said. He the scrap of paper over and asked, “Can you manage this? I kinda want to surprise my girlfriend, you see.”

Mario quickly looked over Naruto's custom order. “Mamma mia! That's a tall order, but we can certainly manage this. In fact, our chef would be delighted to make something like this! You're order will be prepared in a short half hour,” he said before leaving the couple to themselves.

“So, what did you order, hmm?” a curious Natsuko asked before taking a sip of her wine.

“It's a surprise. I'm sure you'll like it,” Naruto answered with a knowing grin, before noting that his sister seemed to be pondering something, “Tsuko-chan? Is there something on your mind?”

“Well, you mentioned there wasn't food like this where you came from and that made me wonder: where did you live, Ruto-kun?” Natsuko asked.

“Edolas…I've lived in Edolas,” Naruto answered, feeling somewhat sour at the mention of that world – although he kept that to himself since he did not want to ruin this evening.

“Edolas? You've been in a different world? That one without magic? How in Mother's name did you end up there?” Natsuko asked in surprise, recalling the name from one of the books in the castle library.

“Err…yes, that Edolas…” Naruto awkwardly confirmed.

Now this explained everything to Natsuko: this was why their mother had not detected his presence in Earth Land for forty years – he wasn't even in this universe to begin with! She failed to notice the slight wince on Naruto's face when she mentioned Edolas being without magic as she took in this new revelation.

“I read Edolas is like a parallel world to this one. Are they just that backward there?” she asked with a frown before adding, “I mean, they'd have to live in the Stone Age to be that much behind here.”

“Oh, they were backward alright, the whole lot of them,” Naruto shrugged, keeping the fact that he had lived in the past to himself.

“Don't be like that!” Natsuko chastised him playfully, before demanding with a merry gleam in her eyes, “Tell me about the things you've seen! What is Edolas like?”

And so Naruto obliged and regaled her with a story about how he remembered Edolas. Back in the days, during a long, violent era knows as the Warring States Period, the countries of Edolas were small and constantly battling each other for land, power and opportunity. To fight these battles, they hired the services of clans of mercenary mages to represent their interests. The constant warfare in turn led to constant death, creating an average lifespan of only thirty years and fostering nothing but animosity and enmity between clans. Children were the greatest victims of the era, forced to fight for their clan no differently than an adult would and, more often than not, being killed by older and more skilled opponents. In an attempt to avoid conflict caused by the ever-changing alliances and resulting vendettas, mages were in the habit of never divulging their family names to strangers.

In due time a few clans in the Land of Fire formed a pact with the Land of Fire's feudal lord – under the banner of peace – to allow them to establish a militarized village within its borders. Other clans wishing to share in the new peace quickly settled in those villages and other clans. Clans in other countries followed this example by forming their own villages in response to the might that the combined power of many mage clans represented. Nothing really changed in the end for the fighting simply continued – if anything, it worsened as instead of individual clans, multiple clans fought against each other, leading to conflict on larger scales. The five largest military villages were Konoha, Suna, Kumo, Iwa and Kiri. Oh, there were a lot more military villages, but these five were the most powerful.

Naruto continued his tale by telling about the better things he has seen while he roamed the continent, both before and after settling in Konoha – one of the various details he intentionally left out as he did not want to delve into the…less pleasant memories. He described the many wonders of nature he had seen, both beautiful and terrible: from the Land of Wind's deserts all the way to the tropical islands near the Land of Water, and everything between the harshest tundras and the most beautiful flora and fauna.

Natsuko was listening with rapt attention to her brother's tale. It was no surprise that the humans in Edolas were no different from what their mother had always told them, but it was still fascinating because she knew little about Edolas itself besides that it's a parallel world. As her brother continued to tell about the things he has seen, besides humans fighting each other, he really got into it – she could recognize the passion, the same passion he put into his art – in his voice and his expression when he spoke about Nature's wonders. With how much her focus took on a day-dreaming quality as it shifted on her brother instead of his words, it was a miracle in itself that his words even registered with her.

It was right there that Mario returned with their order, interrupting Naruto's storytelling and placing a huge pizza on their table before telling them to enjoy their meal and leaving them to themselves.

Natsuko gawked at the sight of the twenty-three inch diameter disc of cheesy goodness. The pizza was cut into eight slices and topped in a 'four season' manner. One quarter of the pizza was topped with crème fraîch sauce and five different types of cheese, the next quarter was topped with all sorts of fish and sea fruit – something she really loved, the third quarter was a richly topped piece of carbonara pizza with lots of meat, and the final quarter was topped with mushrooms and pepperoni alongside other ingredients.

“By Mother!” Natsuko gushed, “Mother's dolls never made something like this back home! This has got to be the most delicious pizza I've ever seen!”

“Guess I'm not doing half-bad so far as your boyfriend,” Naruto chuckled, amused by his sister's reaction.

“Best boyfriend ever!” Natsuko beamed with a two thumbs up – earning herself a roguish grin from him – and licked her lips before saying, “What are you waiting for? Dig in!”

And dig in they did. Naruto had to admit to himself that if there was one thing humans were good for, it was inventing delicious foods. The cheese was a little greasy, but he liked it nonetheless. It was ten minutes later that the two had almost finished their pizza before Natsuko excused herself to visit the restroom. As Naruto was waiting, two attractive young women – a blonde and a brunette – walked up to his table.

“Hi there, gorgeous,” the brunette purred, “What's a handsome man like you doing alone on a night like this?”

“The Fantasia Parade is starting soon,” the blonde chimed in and asked, “Why don't you come with us? It'll be great and maybe we can do something afterwards,” with a suggestive wink.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Naruto sighed, “Ugh…spare me,” and bluntly told them off, “I'm here with my girlfriend. Get lost.”

The women looked miffed at his blunt dismissal – something they were apparently not used to. With offended huffs, they turned around and walked away.

It was then that Natsuko returned. She glared daggers at the two human skanks who she had just seen trying to hit on HER boyfriend. Needless to say, she was angry! Her eyes fell on the drinks on the table where the objects of her ire were sitting and a grin full of malicious glee crept over her adorable face.

Naruto raised an eyebrow when he saw the look on her face. Tracing her line of sight, he quickly realized what she was going to do. He decided not to do anything – after all, those two women had annoyed him.

When the brown-haired woman looked the other side, Natsuko seized the opportunity and exerted her control over the water inside her blonde companion's drink. The drink splashed over the brunette, making it look like the blonde had intentionally splashed her and within moments, the two began to call each other names. Things quickly escalated and the two engaged into a full-fledged catfight.

Natsuko smiled at the result of her handiwork. _'Putting their hands on MY boyfriend? That'll teach them!'_

Naruto laughed at seeing what a mere well-timed splash of water could do, “Bwahaha, now that was funny!” and then turned to his sister to ask “Tsuko-chan, wanna see something even funnier?” to which Natsuko eagerly nodded.

“Alright, watch carefully,” Naruto said as he briefly activated his Rinnegan to project a corporeal, invisible 'shadow' of himself, through the Limbo: Border Jail spell. Although Natsuko – or anything else for that matter – could not detect the shadow, it swiftly entered the restaurant where it picked up one random customer's dish and threw it to the other side of the room…straight into another man's face! This prompted the man to respond in kind and chaos broke out as everyone inside was dragged into the ensuing food fight.

Natsuko and Naruto were laughing out loud at the mayhem while they finished up their pizza. Both were thinking the same thing: this evening was great so far!

Taking note of the time, Naruto rose from his chair, left some money behind on the table as he didn't feel like waiting for the staff – who were occupied with cleaning up the mess of the food fight – to bring the tab and said, “Hey, the parade's going to start soon. We should head that way now if we don't want to miss it.”

Natsuko jumped out her seat and took Naruto arm. “What are you waiting for? Lead the way, sunshine!”

Naruto and Natsuko made a beeline for Central Path, where the parade would begin. They had made it just in time to witness the show starting. They were surrounded by a large crowd of excited people – the streets were filled with both townsfolk and tourists, excited to see what Magnolia Town's very own Fairy Tail had in store for them this year.

It was then that the speakers placed throughout town began transmitting a message, “Ladies and gentlemen! It's finally the time you've all been waiting for! Are you ready?” prompting the crowd to cheer loudly.

“I can't hear you! I said, are you ready?!”

The crowd cheered even louder this time.

“Alright! Ladies and gentlemen, Fairy Tail proudly presents: the Fantasia Parade!”

The sounds of the crowd, however excited they were, were drowned out by the loud music blasting from the speakers and it was quite a catchy tune, too.

The parade featured large, flamboyant floats with people riding on them. Naruto recognized the majority of the mages as Fairy Tail mages – based on that the information he extracted from that red-haired girl, Erza he believed she was called, when he returned to Earth Land. The magic they used wasn't anything special by itself, but the way they put up a show with it was quite something. The Fairy Tail mages riding on top of the floats used their magic to entertain the watching public.

 _'Beautiful_ … _I never imagined I would see people use magic like this,'_ Naruto thought as he watched with fascination. All his life, he had only seen magic being used as a weapon and he didn't thought it would ever be more than that, but seeing this…this made him think that magic could be more than a weapon, that it could not only be something dangerous and frightening, but something beautiful as well.

He looked at the crowd and noted how happy the people were looking. He couldn't recall seeing this much joy, happiness and excitement in one place. Back in Konoha, or rather in Edolas, there was no place for festivity or joy with the constant skirmishes and cold war between villages. He could literally feel the people's feelings permeating the streets without needing the Byakugan, which was capable of seeing through emotions.

Natsuko was no less enraptured by the parade than her brother. She had read about things like this, but when you live a sheltered life on your mother's isolated island, you don't get to see that much of the world in person. So far, she was having a great time tonight. While she watched the parade – in particular a blue-haired water mage and a black-haired ice mage create beautiful ice sculptures on top of their float – she did not notice Naruto taking her hand into his until she felt him squeeze slightly. She turned to look at him and saw that he was smiling a true smile that made her heart flutter.

The couple continued to watch until the parade was over and the firework show began. Fireworks were launched into the night sky, exploding into a myriad of effects and colors – possibly every color from the rainbow spectrum. Naruto took this moment to teleport Natsuko and himself just outside of Magnolia, so they could watch the fireworks from the hills.

“Wow,” Natsuko remarked in wonder, “You can see all the fireworks from here!”

“Yeah, I figured the view would be much better from here,” Naruto said with a smile, “Plus, it's just the two of us here.”

The Uzumaki couple sat down on the grassy ground, leaning with their heads against each other with Naruto's arm wrapped around Natsuko's shoulder as they watched with immersed awe as the colors of the firework show flashed by in synchronized and artful patterns.

“It's so beautiful…” Natsuko whispered.

“Yeah, it is,” Naruto replied softly, “It's like for a moment, the world doesn't feels so rotten.”

“You know, I really like it here. You, me, here…like this. If only we could always stay like this…” Natsuko longingly said, breaking the silence.

Naruto's response was to pull Natsuko closer to him and turn his head sidewards. Blue met violet as they slowly leaned in towards each other, heads tilted to the side. It felt like the world was moving in slow motion to them and they could feel each other's breath on their skin. He brought his hand up to the left side of her face and gently caressed her cheek before their lips connected, closing their eyes once they did. Her lips felt soft, warm, and inviting and the kiss was not rushed in the slightest…it was passionate and slow. The kiss deepened as she wrapped her arms around his back and slipped her tongue past his lips, sensually dancing with his.

After a minute, they separated and pulled back with a strand of saliva still connecting their mouths and they slowly opened their eyes. As they caught their breath, they locked eyes, forgetting about the world around them as Naruto stared into her soul and Natsuko into his being. Just like she got lost in her brother's mesmerizing blue eyes, he too was captivated by hers; it was right now that it struck him how beautiful those vibrant violent eyes – the same eyes his mother possessed – were when they looked at him with longing and love instead of coldness and disdain.

He did not say anything and neither did she; in this moment, words were not needed to convey feelings and both of them knew it. The two enjoyed the silence – with the notable exception of the whistling, crackling, and booming sounds of the fireworks – and the other's warmth for a little while as a gentle autumn breeze brushed over the before moving in for another kiss.

They remained like that until the firework show ended and the Harvest Festival was over. Naruto took his sister's hand and teleported them back to her room in the castle where he conveniently left behind one of his Flying Thunder God markers.

Seeing she was back home, Natsuko sighed wistfully, “Oh, Ruto-kun…it's such a shame this evening couldn't last, that it had to end. I really enjoyed our date.”

Naruto cupped her right cheek with his hand. With a warm smile he told her, “This is not an end. The evening and this date may be over, but this…” pausing for a second as he tried to find the right words, “…this is a beginning, a beginning of something more. And just so you know, I had a great time tonight, too.”

Naruto's words touched her and she smiled a happy smile. Without any warning besides her smile taking on a teasing quality, she kicked off her pumps and slowly removed her dress in a tantalizing manner that glued his eyes to the erotic visage that was her body, clad in nothing but lingerie and stockings. She climbed into her bed, laying down on her side and motioned for him to join her. “It's late, my sweet, and I need someone to keep me warm for the night,” she suggestively told him, her voice dripping with honey.

Her beauty, her body language, the timbre of her voice; she made him feel a stirring in his loins, she lit a fire within him, aroused feelings he didn't know about. Not hesitating for one moment, Naruto complied, “You need not ask,” and began to undress himself as he moved over to the bed, getting rid of his shoes and his belt first.

Natsuko abruptly grasped his tie and pulled him onto the bed and against her, him pressed against her body and in a lip-lock. She wasted no time to initiate another round of making out, hungrily kissing and groping her brother who responded in kind. Within moments as they were doing so, Naruto's remaining clothes were scattered through the room as Natsuko's slender hands quickly and deftly undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt while Naruto removed his pants.

They continued kissing, not separating for more than the briefest of moments between kisses to catch their breaths, while their hands were freely roaming over the other's body, trying to cover as much skin as possible. The kissing and touching intensified in the haze of lust. Eventually, they separated and stared into each other's eyes, panting for breath.

_**Lemon start** _

“Let's go all the way tonight,” Natusko whispered softly. Looking in Naruto's eyes, she could tell that he was nervous.

“What's the matter, my love?” she asked softly.

“This is my first time, Tsuko-chan. I've never done something like this before,” he softly answered, his insecurities breaking through.

“It's alright, Ruto-kun,” she assured him and gently caressed his cheek with her hand, “You'll be fine, just follow my lead.”

Naruto nodded, doing as she said. Natsuko began to plant soft kisses, starting at the base of his neck and slowly working her way down his body, not caring about the scars that riddled his upper body.

“You're lips are so soft,” he moaned. Her lips were so soft and felt so good against his bare skin.

Natsuko paused her kissing for a moment and tugged his boxer shorts down to reveal his throbbing phallus. She watched it bounce and caught it in her hand, slowly caressing it up and down. She had read enough Icha Icha novels to know what to do with his manhood.

“Do you like what I'm doing, love?” Natsuko asked while stroked his member up and down.

“Y-Yes,” Naruto breathed weakly as she pumped his phallus with her hand.

She smiled, before she stroked him and slowly positioned herself before him on all fours. “Then you're going to love this.”

Natsuko dove down between Naruto's legs and gave his testicles a little lick, dragging her tongue against it. That caused him to twitch in pleasure, he never thought he could feel anything better than this.

“Don't stop,” Naruto said after she licked him around his balls. He reached forward, and instinctively snapped her bra off her, causing Natsuko's luscious breasts bounced out. Her nipples stood out, erect and ready. She continued to caress and lick at his manhood.

Naruto basked in these sensations and instinctively began to grope her breasts, exploring them in his hands. This caused a slight moan to erupt from her mouth when she rolled back. He explored them with increasing confidence – any hesitance he had before now gone – running his hands over them, rolling his palms over her nipples.

Natsuko licked her tongue up and down his member, feeling every throb, every twitch, and it grew more in her hand. She must have it down her throat and have him spewing his first load down her throat.

“Oh!” Naruto breathed after Natsuko stuck his manhood in her mouth, her tight mouth wrapped around his member. Her lips placed around him as she bobbed up and down on him, rocking back and forth as his penis went deep into her throat.

“So good, so hot…” Naruto moaned to himself as his sister's lips pressed against the base of his penis, taking the entire piece of meat down her throat.

Natsuko kept her tempo steady. She pumped his member into her mouth for several more minutes, looking up at him with a sexy look on her face.

Naruto gasped sharply when he felt his balls size up at the sensation of her mouth wrapped around his flesh pole, along with Natsuko's hand squeezing and cupping his balls in her hand. She went down on him, making lewd popping sounds with her mouth. She rocked back and forth, taking him deep into her throat, and his phallus sank down her throat, with her throat muscles working him over.

His balls tightened and Naruto shot his load down her throat, sending a flood of cum into her mouth. Natsuko swallowed it all, not wasting a single drop as she allowed the contents of his balls to drain down her throat. It tasted delicious, beyond anything she expected.

“That was amazing…” Naruto breathed, still caught in the euphoria of his release.

“That is just a taste of what's to come,” Natsuko said with a seductive smirk as she peeled her panties and stockings off her legs, revealing her smooth sex and juicy lips that beckoned out for his manhood. He could hardly hold himself back now that he had his first taste of sex, he wanted to be inside her!

Natsuko gently pushed him down on his back and straddled his hips, positioning her dripping wet womanhood above his manhood. Naruto cupped her butt in his hands.

“Oh Mother,” Natsuko breathed heavily as she impaled herself down on his manhood, feeling it stretch her.

“So good…” Naruto grunted as she rose up and sank back down on him, riding him. Her tight walls caressed his manhood nicely as she worked up a bit of a tempo riding him. “You're so tight.”

“This pussy was made for you,” Natsuko lustfully moaned. She pushed herself up and sank back down, and continued her bouncing. She breathed in and out, when Naruto thrust into her, hitting her and making her to throw her head back with a scream.

Naruto found himself in heaven when his member was enveloped in the warm tightness of his sister's love canal, wrapped around him, and squeezed around his manhood. She rocked up and down, back and forth, and picked up a steady and heavy pace. She rode him, gyrating her hips around him. His phallus jammed into her sex when she rode him until she reduced herself to a screaming wreck.

“Oh yes! More my love, more!” Natsuko screamed, feeling another orgasm wash through her body when Naruto rocked her with his manhood. She got far more than she could ever hope from her first time and she loved it with every fiber of her being.

Naruto obliged and pounded her already, thrusting his phallus into her in tandem with her motions, and causing her to bend back, so she nearly spilled backwards over the bed. He used the leverage to cut a path, slamming his thick member into her womanhood, driving it into her sopping wet core with each pass into her. Each thrust buried deeper into her. Natsuko put her hands on his shoulders and sank her nails into his flesh.

“Oh, yes, so good!” Naruto breathed as he cupped his hands around her.

“I'm…ah close! Got to…pull out!” Naruto panted as his member slid in and out of her, trying to warn his sister before he impregnated her, feeling his release coming near.

“Don't! I won't get pregnant. Release it all inside me…” Natsuko panted as she was riding him and just as she felt another earth shattering orgasm rock her body, she screamed, “…Ah! Make me yours!”

That did it for Naruto and he shot his load into her waiting core. Natsuko was in ecstasy from feeling her brother's cum sloshing in her womb. Just like her mother and sister, she could not get pregnant unless she wanted to.

“Wow…that was amazing,” Naruto panted between deep breaths. When he regained his breath, he said, “Natsuko, my beautiful nymph…” garnering her attention as she too was recovering from her orgasm, “…I love you,”

A big smile formed on Natsuko's face as she dove down and passionately kissed him and said, “I love you too.”

Feeling bold, Naruto flipped Natsuko over and reversed their positions. Natsuko tingled with anticipation, when Naruto's very hard rock lined up with her sex and penetrated into her. The woman clutched the bedsheets when he pushed in and out of her, thrusting into her at a steady rythm. His hands maneuvering their way over her body until they cupped her breasts only added to the atmosphere.

Unnoticed to Naruto, Natsuko had a surprise for him. She clenched her hand so tight that her nails dug into the palm of her and drew blood. She used her water magic to form a rune of blood on her palm by manipulating the water that made up the majority of her blood and slammed her hand down to the bed to trigger her transformation and shouted, “Oh Ruto-kun, I'm going to drive you wild!”

The familiar transformation spell took as the words left her mouth and a vortex of water surrounded the two of them, which frankly did not bother Naruto at all – it only soaked him and his mind was focused on more important matters anyway, such as how his sister's body underneath him was shifting. He felt firsthand how her body changed into that of a goddess. He could feel her body expanding and maturing: she became taller, curvier, shapelier, and bigger in all the right places.

When the vortex disappeared, Naruto's breath hitched in his throat. He had seen Natsuko in her goddess form before, but seeing this seven-feet-tall, silver-haired goddess laying under him naked and soaked was something entirely else! She was beautiful, but as a goddess she was breathtaking.

Natsuko giggled melodiously at Naruto's expression, _“Oh my, I took your breath away while you were just getting so bold.”_

“Can't help it; you're so beautiful,” Naruto said and leaned down to kiss her, only for Natsuko to suddenly flip them back around pin him down on his back, his manhood still inserted inside her wet sex.

“ _I want you to love looking at my body, my sweet, and right now, I want you to make love to this body, but first, let's make this even better…”_ Natsuko said with a husky voice that sounded even sexier than before she transformed and triggered her second surprise.

Her body – more specifically, her muscles – began to swell through use of her water magic. “Oh my goddess, so tight!” Naruto gasped as he felt her body shift under him once more and her womanhood became even tighter around his manhood – and it was already tight to begin with! And her skin, which had become smoother and silkier in her goddess form, felt like it was shrink-wrapped around the growing, dense muscle underneath.

When she was finished, she was just as Naruto remembered her from the last time she had 'she-hulked': hard and feminine, with thick muscle over her entire body, but no less beautiful and curvy. He thought this was actually strangely arousing when her body shifted like this.

With a saucy smirk, Natsuko asked, _“Ready for round two, my love?”_

“Oh, yes!” Naruto answered, taken by lust. He didn't know what came over him, but he had to have this goddess!

And with that Natsuko began to rock back and forth on him again, gyrating her hips while he pushed up and down, riding him with unbridled desire.

Natsuko felt her eyes flood over when she felt this prime piece of meat bury inside her, rubbing against her nether lips and pushing her apart. She panted heavily when she felt everything, he thrust into her, and she rocked back on him, pushing his penis with her vaginal muscles, determined to make him release his semen into her.

Naruto ran his hands over her, hearing her moaning loudly when she rode him, but he was still very hard in her, when he thrust up into her. Naruto watched her large globes bounce up and down while she was rocking against him back and forth, his phallus disappearing into her deeply.

Natsuko moaned and mewled in pleasure as she ground against him, feeling another wonderful orgasm building up.

“ _Oh yes!”_ Natsuko screamed as she rocked herself up and down on him, using her vaginal muscles to clamp down on him, _“Cum for me! Cum for your water goddess! I need it!”_

“I'm…close,” Naruto stated between hard breaths, as she rode him, bouncing up and down on him. He felt his balls churn from the vice grip of her vaginal muscles and her godly, sensual voice.

She had another orgasm where she saw stars just as Naruto finally exploded. Together with him, she screamed out loud when his manhood thrust into her, spurting his semen into her, splattering into her insides as she drenched his member in her own love juices.

“ _Wow,”_ Natsuko breathed as she fell forward and was caught in Naruto's arms, who held her head in his neck, cradling it as both panted with satisfied smiles on their faces.

“You can say that again,” Naruto breathed out.

Natsuko felt Naruto getting hard again under her body and melodiously giggled, _“Ooh, someone doesn't wants to go to sleep yet,”_ and licked her lips, _“Lucky for you, I happen to be a benevolent goddess who wants you inside me.”_

Suiting action to her words, she began to ride his manhood again and the two of them resumed their lovemaking until they were claimed by the deep silence of the night and finally dozed off with his phallus buried down to the hilt in her womanhood.

_**Lemon end** _

************* Line Break *************

It has been several days since his date and night with Natsuko and Naruto was – all things considered – in quite good spirits. Besides dinner, he did not have to put up much with Kushina so far – she probably thought he would 'come around' if she gave him some space and let him cool down. Right now he was just minding himself, working on a painting he has recently started working on: a painting of the firework show from a few days ago. This painting was unique for he was experimenting with glowing ink paint produced by his magic.

The door suddenly opened and a metallic, feminine voice suddenly called out, “Master Naruto,” garnering Naruto's attention. He turned his head to see one of Kushina's female dolls, this one dressed as a maid.

When Naruto faced her, she told him, “Your mother wishes for you to join her in her private lounge for tea and ramen. I am tasked with bringing you to her.”

 _'Ramen? Kushina likes that, too? It's not that strange I guess, ramen is the food of the gods after all,'_ Naruto mused in surprise, _'Well, I suppose as much as I would prefer to avoid the witch, she's been less unbearable lately, bearable enough to eat ramen and it IS ramen…'_

“Ahh, why the hell not?” Naruto answered the puppet nonchalantly, “Lead the way.”

“Very well, master. Please follow me,” and with that, the doll turned and began to walk away in her usual mechanical manner. Naruto followed closely behind her, studying the contraption that was this doll in an effort to distract himself from the unpleasant sensation he would soon be experiencing by being within sight of his egg donor. The thought of ramen, though – that could drive away all fear or unpleasantness. As he put it himself, there were three absolutes in the world: his might, human stupidity…and the deliciousness of the culinary miracle called ramen.

It was with a soft smile at the prospect of eating ramen that he suddenly found himself inside the small sitting room that the doll had referred to.

“Master Naruto, Mistress,” the Doll announced as she bowed to Kushina, who was sitting in one of the green room's plush emerald chairs, before stepping aside and allowing Naruto entry. Once Naruto was in the room, the Doll quietly closed the door, leaving the two alone.

“Please do sit down, my son,” Kushina offered with what Naruto could only assume was a pleasant smile for her standards, “Enjoy some refreshments with your mother.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her before wordlessly making his way to the chair that his mother was gesturing towards. Once he sat down in it, he took the tea and the small bowl of salt ramen that was on a tray before him and placed them on the end table beside his chair.

“Thank you,” he offered stiffly before picking up a pair of lacquered chopsticks and picking up some of the noodles before eating them.

“Is the ramen to your liking?” Kushina asked cordially.

Naruto nodded, seeming to relax a little bit, “I didn't know you liked ramen.”

“Oh, it's my favorite,” Kushina told him with mild excitement, “I see it's yours, too.”

Naruto nodded once more, as Kushina continued, “It's good to see you inherited something from me.”

That comment immediately banished any contentment or relaxation Naruto may have felt. His smile dropped, and he immediately put his ramen and chopsticks down on the table.

Looking to her with an icy glare, he asked coldly, “Was there something you wanted?”

Kushina closed her eyes and gave a disappointed sigh, “I only wanted to spend time talking to my son, whom I have not had the opportunity to spend time with in more than forty years. Is that so hard to believe?”

“It wouldn't be so hard to believe if the lack of opportunity you're talking about wasn't one of your own doing.”

“Watch yourself, my son,” Kushina warned calmly yet dangerously, “You should be grateful that I consider you worthy of being my child.”

“Well then _…_ ” Naruto retorted sarcastically, “ _…t_ hank you for allowing me the honor and privilege of befouling yet another room in your holy house with my disgusting presence, Lady Kushina.”

Kushina's lips pursed tightly together at this before she once again closed her eyes and sighed, this time in both disappointment and frustration, and asked tiredly, “Are you ever going to let that go, Naruto?”

“I'll let it go when you apologize to me for saying it,” Naruto challenged.

Kushina's eyes narrowed, briefly flashing with fury before she caught herself and re-schooled her features, “Your presence no longer befouls my house. There, I've said it, is that what you want? Now, let go of your petty notions of hatred and retribution as I did decades ago. As my son it is beneath you – hatred befits lower beings like humans.”

“As do the notions of arrogance and god-complexes,” Naruto disdainfully responded.

Kushina's eyes flashed with fury once again, this time with gritted teeth. Again, making an effort to regain her faculties, she said evenly, “Naruto, I have been very patient with you thus far. Do not continue testing my patience with your gross and blatant disrespect. At the very least, you will show me respect because you are in my home. While I understand that I am the object of your anger, I do not agree with your way of thinking, nor will I continue to tolerate it for long. I gave you life and can just as easily take it away,” she finished by flaring her magic power.

To her surprise, Naruto didn't even flinch. He simply looked at her with schooled boredom and responded, “You wouldn't be the first one to do so and if you think that…paltry magic like this will intimidate me, let alone kill me, then you're in for a surprise.”

The pressure in the room vanished as quickly as it came. Kushina stared at him, confusion written all over her features.

 _'What does he means by that?'_ she asked herself in an effort to make sense of what he'd just told her, her superhuman mind working overtime as it processed the implications, _'Has he actually…died before? Has he attained a form of immortality?'_

She looked into his eyes and saw no fear at all in them. If anything, they looked dead, as though what he was telling her was the honest-to-God truth. Deep down, it unnerved her a little bit.

Schooling her face into a serene calm once again, she stood up and told him coldly, “Enjoy your ramen. I will see you for dinner tonight.”

“If I feel so inclined,” Naruto told her just as coldly.

“See that you do,” she retorted before disappearing from the room, leaving him alone with his ramen – which he quickly devoured – and his annoyed mood. Figuring seeing Natsuko might cheer him up, he left the room and headed for his sister's location.

************* Line Break *************

Natsuko was currently training near the outskirts of her mother's island, like she had done for the last few days. This was by no means uncommon for her or her siblings as it was expected of them to grow stronger – their mother would accept no less. What was unusual though, was the fact she was training harder than she normally did, much harder in fact.

Even if she had not openly shown it, her last battle with Menma had affected her badly. He had rendered her helpless, unable to defend herself against whatever 'punishment' he was about to administer. Being at his mercy while he looked at her with that sick grin and malicious gleam in his eyes resonated with bad childhood memories. Her mother and sister were scary whenever they were angry, but scary as they were, she knew they wouldn't do anything to her without reason. Menma however _…as of late she could not help but feel unsafe around him_ – completely unlike Naruto.

It was kind of ironic: her brothers wore the same face, except for their eye and hair colors, but whereas Menma made her feel unsafe, Naruto made her feel safe. She shuddered to think how far Menma might have gone in his anger had it not been for her brother. She could not let herself end up in a situation like that again and that resolve motivated her to train harder…much harder than normally.

Right now, she was working on new spells and techniques. More specifically, she tried to improve her control over water. She was capable of controlling water by mere thought, but she wanted to try taking it further – she wanted to make the water to automatically act on her behalf, so she didn't even had to exercise control at all! She knew it was possible for her mother was capable of doing it, but so far it proved to be an elusive and difficult feat if the strained expression on her face was any indication.

She was so deep in concentration, that she didn't notice Naruto wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, burying his face into her neck as he planted a kiss in her neck, eliciting a delighted moan from her and breaking her concentration.

“You broke my concentration,” Natsuko complained with mock anger, which looked adorable to Naruto.

“Shame on me…not that you seem to mind it though. I suppose I'll have to make it up to you,” he said mirthfully before he kissed her neck once more, slowly moving up to her jawline as he gave her soft kisses and licks on her soft, smooth, silky skin. She whined a bit at the loss of contact when Naruto pulled back.

“That said, you're pretty impressive with your water magic,” Naruto complimented her. He had observed her for some time while she was training.

Bolstered by his praise, Natsuko puffed out her chest and proudly boasted, “It's nothing compared to when I'm a goddess.”

“No doubt about that,” Naruto remarked. “Speaking of your goddess form, how come you are able to transform into a goddess as well? I know why Mito can, with the entire piece of Kagutsuchi thing, but I don't know about you,” Naruto asked, interested in learning more about her.

“It's because blessed water from the Nile River, water blessed by Sobek, runs through my veins. Mom mixed water from Sobek's sacred river with my blood,” Natsuko explained.

“Hmm, I see…” Naruto thoughtfully murmured, intrigued by the way his girlfriend had been endowed with divinity.

Natsuko turned and tilted her head to face Naruto, who was still embracing her from the back. “What's your god magic, Ruto-kun?” Natsuko asked.

“It's wind-type god magic…Aeolus God Magic,” Naruto answered.

“Oooh, can you show me?” Natsuko excitedly asked.

Naruto's expression turned thoughtful. He hadn't used his god magic in a long time because he felt that his own magic was superior to all other forms of magic – magic of the gods included. If he had to be honest with himself, it was somewhat vain. “It's been a long time since I've used that magic, but I guess I can show you something.”

Naruto let go of Natsuko and walked a few steps forward. **“Aeolus' North Wind,”** he swung his right arm and a great gust of light blue wind swept forth over the land in front him, flash-freezing all fauna in its path.

“ **Aeolus' South Wind,”** another swing of his arm summoned forth another gust of wind, equally great as the previous one. This time, the wind was yellow and melted the frost. It was only because he had reigned in the potency of his spell that the wind was only hot enough to nullify the effects of his North Wind instead of flash-frying everything.

Not finished yet, he swung his arm again, this time towards the woods to his right. **“Aeolus' East Wind,”** a reddish brown wind blew through the trees and plants, rotting them and leaving them behind withered as it did so.

“ **Aeolus' West Wind,”** with one final swing, an orange wind swept over the woods he had just caused to rot. This wind seemed to reverse the rot he had just induced, for everything started blooming and came back to life. When the wind was gone, the area looked no different than it looked before his demonstration, such was his precision in using his magic.

Natsuko looked at her boyfriend's with wonder as he literally painted the landscape over with the colors of the wind with surgical precision. “So that's the Ruler of the Winds' magic which commands the four seasonal winds…” she said with awe, “…that was awesome!”

“Hehe, thanks!” Naruto shyly laughed, scratching the back of his head, still unused to receiving compliments.

Remembering what was on his mind, he asked, “I noticed you were training pretty hard, Tsuko-chan. Do you always train like that?”

“Huh? No…not like this,” she answered, looking slightly more sour than usual, which did not went unnoticed on him.

“How come?” Naruto asked.

“It's…” Natsuko began, “…it's because of Menma…what he did during our last fight…” she continued, looking visibly uncomfortable, “…I was at his mercy, I can't let that happen again!”

Naruto felt concern at seeing his sister like this. It felt wrong, considering how cheerful and bubbly she always was. “Tsuko-chan, what's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?” he softly asked, cupping her face in his hand.

Natsuko said nothing for a moment, placing her own hand over his while he still cupped her face. She could never really talk about this with her mother as she would dismiss it and just tell her that if anything happened to her, it would be a result of weakness. No, her mother had no sympathy for such things. Mito…Mito had been very evasive and subdued as of late and even if she wasn't, it would still not do her much good. While her big sister was more sympathetic, the bottom-line would still boil down to how depraved humans were and why it was so important to become stronger. But maybe…maybe she could talk to Naruto. Seeing him look at her with concern…yes, she could talk to him – he would understand.

“Ruto-kun…” she whispered and softly explained, “…when Menma used that Runic Stone spell, I…I was unable to fight back. The way he looked at me while I was helpless…it brought back bad memories about something that happened when I was eight-years-old…”

She choked up as she was about to bring up that particular incident after always having been unable to really talk about it. Naruto could tell that whatever she was talking about, was really difficult for her.

“You don't need to talk about this if you're not ready to do so,” he told her sympathetically. He understood as he was all too familiar with that feeling.

“No, I need to get this off my chest,” Natsuko said before she began to tell her about the incident.

She told him how their mother had ordered Mito to take her to the mainland so she see what depraved beings humans were. She had been so excited to finally see humans with her own eyes – after all, they were like her unknown brother, so they couldn't be bad, could they? While she and Mito headed towards a town, she had tripped up Mito and ran off saying that the 'last one there was a loser' – it was just simple, harmless fun. In town, a human man asked her if she was playing hide-and-seek – which sounded like fun to her – and then told her he knew a place where her sister would not find her, a guaranteed win for her.

In her childish naivety, she went with the man, who had used his magic to knock her out. When she came by, he showed his true colors – he was going to sell her into slavery if it wasn't for Mito finding her and burning the swine to a crisp. She had felt frightened that day, but she had never talked much about it, unable to truly be open about it. Menma's behavior after he had subdued he and the helplessness…it reminded her of that man and that situation.

By the time she finished her story, there were tears rolling down her face. Naruto held her close to him. “Shh…it's alright. I am here. You need not be afraid of Menma. Nothing will happen to you, Tsuko-chan. Nothing will happen to you while I'm here.”

Naruto felt angry about what happened to his sister. Hearing that the human piece of excrement was killed by Mito mollified his anger a little bit, but still! Even at his worst, he was not depraved enough to wish that for anyone to be put in a situation like that and considering what he was capable of at his worst, that was very telling. Above all, he cursed Kushina for not showing concern for her youngest daughter. It was her fault that his sister could not properly process this!

But all of that wasn't important right now – he wanted her to feel safe. It was again one of those strange feelings that he has been dealing with over the last days. Perhaps it was all part of what people claimed about what it meant to love someone. He would not let anything happen to her, but by how hard she was training, he could tell that she wants to, no…NEEDS to feel safe in her own ability to protect herself from the likes of his rotten little brother.

A contemplating look then appeared on his face. There was something he could do to really help her – he could give her a means to better protect herself against Menma…or Mito if need be. Thinking it over for a few moments, he came to a decision.

“Tsuko-chan, nobody deserves to go through something like that. You shouldn't have to walk around with something like this for so long. I want you to feel safe. While I will come to your aid when you are in need, I can tell that won't make you truly feel safe, but I can help you feel more safe and confident in your own strength…if you let me,” Naruto told her with sympathy that he was allegedly incapable of according to his legend.

Natsuko's head jerked up to meet her brother's eyes with wide eyes. He accepted her spilling her heart out without any reservations – no blaming it on her being not strong enough, no condescension, no stressing out the importance of power and how sick humans were, just acceptance and understanding.

“What if I told I can give you power – power that would help you defend yourself against Menma or anyone else for that matter?” Naruto asked.

“Huh?” Natsuko asked, not getting what he meant, “What do you mean?”

“You know of the rivers of the Greek Underworld?” Naruto asked, to which she nodded. Their mother had spoon-fed them with divine lore.

“What I'm asking, Tsuko-chan, is if you want to learn these water magics – all five of them? What do you say?” Naruto asked with a kind smile on his face.

Natsuko's eyes turned as wide as dinner plates at the offer. “Yes!” she blurted out, “But how?”

Naruto unsealed six bottles from his storage seal, each containing water of a different color. “With this, each bottle contains water that I acquired directly from the rivers of the Greek Underworld during one of my journeys.”

“Err…you have six bottles there,” Natsuko pointed out. Naruto gave her a blank stare and just responded, “I'll get to that in a moment.”

He pointed towards the bottle with the dark blue water and explained, “This is water from the River Styx, water which dissolves anyone who enters it and is capable to bestow invulnerability on those who are strong enough to withstand it.”

He moved on to the next bottle, which contained milky white water. “That is water from the River Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. You probably already guessed it, it erases memories,” before mentioning the bottle next to it, which contained silver water, “This here is not exactly one of the five rivers. This water comes from the river Mnemosyne and it is the counterpart to the River Lethe; it restores memories instead of erasing them.”

“And that, is water from the River Acheron, water which inflicts torturous pain, hence the river is called the river of pain,” he said as pointed to the bottle with the dark green water.

Moving on to the bottle with inky black water, he continued, “This one comes straight from the River Cocytus, the river of lamentation. Those who touch it will have their minds filled with sad and miserable thoughts, lacking purpose to life if their will isn't strong enough.”

“Last, but not least, the River Phlegethon, the river of fire…” Naruto began as he mentioned the bottle with water that resembled liquid fire and cut off Natsuko, already knowing what she was about to say, “It's contradicting, I know, but anyway, it's also called the River of Healing by some for its ability to heal, which was often used so that the wicked could endure their torment. If the rumors are to be believed, it is supposed to taste spicy, yet disgusting.”

“This is what I am offering and I'm trusting you to use this gift responsibly,” Naruto said with utmost seriousness, “You said your godly power came from blessed water being mixed with your blood. I can do this the same way. Are you still in?”

Natsuko nodded her head vigorously up and down. “Uh-huh! Still in? I was born ready!”

Naruto chuckled at her enthusiasm, “Alright then, just lay down and I will do the rest. With that said, let the torment commence!” startling Natsuko before saying, “Just kidding, I'll make sure it won't hurt at all, in fact, I think you're going to feel really good.”

Natsuko pouted at her brother's attempt at humor and was confused about what he meant about feeling good, but she did as she was told anyway.

This procedure – which he copied from Kushina's studies while he has been sneaking around unnoticed through her private, off-limits, section in the library – was painful and considering the nature of the waters he would be mixing with her blood, it might likely be even more painful. The illusion he cast fooled the body in mistaking pain for pleasure. He then proceeded by forming a small, sharp blade of magic, a Magic Scalpel, around his hand and made a cut on her palm. Through his magic, he ensured that the cut would remain open instead of healing before he could finish the ritual.

He opened the bottle containing the water of the Styx and performed his mother's ritual to make the water flow into the cut on his sister's palm, forcing the water into her veins. Natsuko began to moan in pleasure as the water of the Styx entered body, the otherwise burning sensation she would have felt turned into pure pleasure. Her moans quickly turned into euphoric cries as the water circulated through her bloodstream.

One by one, he introduced the water from the other rivers into her body one by one. With each bottle of water he emptied into her bloodstream, the bliss she felt became more and more intense. By the time he emptied all of the six bottles with their contents now pumping through her entire body, she lay there trashing pure pleasure and squealing like she was experiencing climax after climax.

Now that all of the water was mixed with her blood, Naruto placed his green-glowing hand over Natsuko's palm, using the Mystical Palm Spell to close the cut on her palm. Now all that remained was to permanently bond the mystical waters to her blood. He began to chant the incantation for the final step of the ritual.

Natsuko's eyes rolled back as she felt her body flood with new power, pumping through her heart, rushing through her veins, becoming one with her, filling her with an overload of euphoria. Her mouth opened wide, but the only thing that came out was a silent scream. After a few moments – which felt like an eternity to her – the euphoric sensation died out, leaving her panting for breath.

Naruto walked up to Natsuko and put a hand on her shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

“I…I feel…incredible! I've never felt this good before!” Natsuko exclaimed, having regained her breath and faculties.

Seeing that Natsuko was not experiencing any sensations from the ritual anymore, Naruto dispelled the illusion he had cast on her. Activating his Byakugan, he confirmed that the ritual had indeed worked: the six types of magical water he had infused her with were now part of her blood. On top of that, when he mixed the waters of the rivers of the Underworld with her blood, he had also imbued her with its mystical magic, boosting her considerable magic reserves and power to match that of Mito!

Natsuko grabbed Naruto by his shoulders and barely restrained herself from bouncing on the spot as she excitedly fired one question after another, “So when are you going to teach me how to use my new water magic? You are going to teach me, right? What spells will you teach me?”

Naruto waved his arms in a 'calm down' manner, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down! You don't even need to learn anything new, because you already know how to control water. That's the best part of it actually, you only need to draw on the different types of water magic you have at your disposal.”

Before she got the chance to respond, he asked something he had meant to ask earlier, “Say, what were you working on by the way?”

“Hmm? I was trying to take my control over water to a new level,” was his sister's reply.

“New level? You're going have to be more specific there.”

“I want to learn to control water like how mom can control the elements, without the need for conscious control!” Natsuko proclaimed before her face dropped and she mumbled, “But I haven't been able to figure out how to do it so far though,” with her arms crossed.

Naruto chuckled, “Good thing for you that I happen know how it's done.”

That captured her undivided attention and within a blink, she was right in his face, practically begging him to share the secret with her, “Tell me! Pretty pleeeaaase? You'd help your lovely goddess girlfriend, right?”

“Ahh, alright. The trick is to infuse life or preferably, your will into whatever you want to have acting on your behalf without controlling it or giving it a consciousness,” Naruto sagely explained.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best!” Natsuko happily squealed and hugged him tight, interspersing her words with sloppy kisses. She then cracked a lascivious grin and added, “Oh, and you're so going to make a repeat performance of what you just did back there a minute ago. Hmm, yes…you're definitely going to be doing that a lot from now on.”

Naruto didn't get what she was getting at, “Huh? What do you mean? Repeat performance of what?”

“Of making me feel as good as you did just there, you silly goose!” she exclaimed, adding in a day-dreaming manner, “Ahh, you really know how to treat me right. I think I just fell in love with you even more,” eliciting a blush on Naruto's face and a faint 'Oh…' from him.

Naruto sighed, “Err, well…anyway, why don't we get started on infusing your will into water? And you can give your new magic a test run while we're at it.”

That snapped Natsuko out of her day-dream and she listened intently to Naruto's explanations as he explained to her how to infuse her will into substances like water before putting it to practice until they had to leave for dinner.

**End of Chapter**

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_**A/N:** _

_**Phew, that's that, folks. This chapter gave some insight into part of Naruto's past and Naruto's date is finally out of the way.** _

_**A small clarification on Menma's attitude since I understand Natsuko's thoughts and explanations could lead to certain conclusions. Menma would not rape her – instead, he would torture and humiliate her in his anger. The wicked aura and intent to do so, is what bothered Natsuko.** _

_**I apologize for the long wait, but rest assured that I have not and am not abandoning my stories. I will not post author's note chapters; I don't like it when others do that, so I won't do it myself. Instead, from now on, I will include and update my progress on my profile page. This way I will keep you – the readers – aware of how my stories are coming along and in a situation like this, why it's taking me so long to release an update. As such, I have included an explanation on my profile page as to why it took me so long to release this chapter.** _


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**As usual, my thanks to npcfan for his help. :)** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

Natsuko was sleeping blissfully, her brother spooned flush against her back and holding her from behind – a habit which she had come to greatly enjoy over the past two months. Her mother hadn't said anything against it, nor had she attempted to stop the practice. Whether or not she approved or simply didn't care mattered not to Natsuko – she was simply content to be left to her bliss.

But even though Natsuko hadn't been forbidden to sleep with Naruto, she still wasn't immune to harsh wake-up calls… such as the one of which she was now on the receiving end of.

“ _Daughter, I have need of you. Come to me at once,”_ her mother telepathically commanded.

The words echoed through her mind, their 'loudness' jolting her and causing her to start. She heard Naruto give a soft, unconscious groan as her sudden movement disturbed him ever so slightly, before he immediately fell back into slumber. Now awake, alert, and a little grumpy, she left the warmth of Naruto's body against her back, got herself out of his bed, and looked toward his bedroom window, noting how dark it was outside.

“It's not even morning yet…” Natsuko complained to herself, before casting a brief glance at Naruto's sleeping form, “…and I was having such a good dream, too.”

Knowing it was better not to keep her mother waiting, she gave her brother a soft kiss on his forehead and prepared to leave, fog coalescing around her body and morphing into her clothes before she turned her entire body into aqueous vapor and quickly sped towards her mother's throne room.

************* Line Break *************

Kushina sat on her throne, tapping her long nails on the armchair of her throne while she was waiting for her daughters. It didn't take long for the doors to open and her oldest daughter to walk through.

“Mother,” Mito curtly greeted, which Kushina acknowledged with a short nod.

Not a minute later, a cloud of vapor flew into the room and formed into her youngest child.

“Okay, I'm here. What did you need to wake me up so early for, Mom? I was having a good dream!” Natsuko complained.

Kushina rolled her eyes at Natsuko's childish disposition. She rose from her chair and addressed her daughters, “Now that you're both here, I shall tell you what you must do. I need you two to take care of something for me.”

With a wave of her hand, she conjured a holographic map of Ishgar appeared in front of her two demigoddess progeny, with a red dot pulsating over Bosco.

“It has come to my attention that a 'dark guild', Grimoire Heart…” Kushina spat out the words 'dark guild' condescendingly, “…has located something that is of interest to me.”

Mito and Natsuko were not surprised by their mother's tone – she had always been clear about her disgust at the way humans placed their misguided morality concerning the use of power. It was a lesson she had firmly impressed upon them: there was no such as light and dark, or good and evil; there was only power…and those too weak to seek it. The mention of something that caught their mother's interest however, did pique their interest. For their mother to take interest in something, it had to be something special.

Despite her curiosity, Mito remained quiet. Natsuko however couldn't reign in her curiosity and asked, “What did they find, Mom?”

Kushina paused and stared blankly at her youngest for a moment before answering, “A tablet which is inscribed with an ancient scripture about The One Magic, possibly shedding light on its secrets.”

Mito's and Natsuko's eyes to widen in surprise. The One Magic was believed to be the original source of all magic, an omnipotent power which their mother greatly coveted. What Kushina said next surprised them even more.

“And you two are going to retrieve it. The tablet is in the vicinity of the region I marked, in the woodlands of Bosco. You will leave at once,” Kushina instructed with an authoritative air to her.

“Uhh, Mom? Not that it's not an honor, but why are you sending us to retrieve something THIS big instead of doing it personally? Oh! And can we take Naruto with us?” Natsuko asked, becoming more chipper when she asked for permission to bring her brother with her.

“I have other matters to attend to, and you two are my daughters: goddesses made in my own image. You are more than up to the task at hand,” Kushina told her youngest in her usual blank tone, although her daughters recognized their mother's praise and pride in their abilities.

Kushina glanced over at Mito and adopted a thoughtful expression. Her oldest daughter, her pride, had been withdrawn over the last month. She would have done something about it already if other matters had not been distracting her so much as of late, such as her petulant but promising son. It was her hope that this task would help her daughter come out of her shell so that she wouldn't need to step in herself, and sending the two of them together would assure that they'll keep each other in check.

As for her eldest…

_**Flashback start** _

In the southern region of the castle, in a grand hall that looked much like a cathedral, Kushina sat behind the console of her pipe organ, performing a toccata for an audience of one – herself. The organ itself was a magnificent contraption, consisting of thousands of pipes, spanning across the majority of the wall and adorned by golden decorations and elaborate carvings, such as the busts at each side that resembled her own likeliness and that of her children.

As she played, she felt the presence of her eldest in the room. He made no move to leave; he was most likely listening to the tunes she produced. The briefest ghost of a smile crept over her face at the knowledge that her son appreciated art in its many forms as she did – another thing in which he took after her.

 _'If only he would stop being so petulant…'_ Kushina sighed in her thoughts.

When she finished, she sensed Naruto quietly turning around to leave. Without turning around, she said, “Come here, son,” halting him in his tracks.

Figuring that humoring her might cause him the least amount of headache, Naruto did as she told and walked to her side.

“Hn,” he grunted, not bothering to properly greet her. Kushina got up from the organist bench and motioned with left hand for Naruto to take place on the bench.

“Play something for your mother,” she said in a way that sounded like a request and an order at the same time.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the unexpected request and asked, “Why?”

“You possess the same appreciation for art – music included – that I do. I have listened to you playing on your flute, and I must admit that your musical aptitude is most…pleasing to my ears. I would like to hear some more it,” Kushina complimented him without dropping her aristocratic composure.

“No,” Naruto said bluntly, “I see no reason at all to indulge you.”

Kushina looked offended at her son's blunt refusal, “What do you mean no? You petulant, ungrateful…! Do as I told you to! Can't you just stop being so difficult now that I've taken you back into my home and given you everything you desired?!”

“Pity it doesn't really means a thing anymore,” Naruto dismissively said.

“Son, be reasonable,” urged Kushina.

“A few compliments to me, and what, you think we're…we're even now? Is it time for us to go play catch in the yard?” Naruto asked, the sarcasm dripping from his tongue.

“Listen, I know you're angry and bitter about being cast out--” Kushina tried to reason before being cut off by Naruto snorting, “Understatement of the century.”

“Just what do you want?” Kushina heatedly demanded, raising her voice as her frustration briefly got the better of her.

“What do you think? You could have tried to apologize for starters!” Naruto fired back, adding in his thoughts, _'Not that it matters since you wouldn't mean it anyway.'_

“I am sorry…that you feel that I betrayed you, that I acted without cause. I'm sorry you can't see that you left me no choice. There you have it,” Kushina offered with frustration.

“And there you go again, avoiding any kind of responsibility as you always do,” Naruto said frustratedly, throwing his hands up in an exasperated manner.

“I did what I had to,” Kushina insisted, ignoring his verbal jab, “To make you strong, I had to be hard on you. And when nothing worked and I saw you would not let go of your weakness, I had no choice but to leave you.”

“No, you betrayed me,” Naruto retorted, pointing an accusing finger at Kushina, “For ten long years, you abused me because you hated me, and when it broke me like that kind of abuse inevitably does…you threw me away,” earning himself a furious glare.

“What? Thought I didn't remember the satisfied look on your face whenever you punished me or put me in my place?” Naruto rhetorically asked with a taunting tone, daring her to deny it.

Kushina was visibly trembling and it was only her advanced age that allowed her to restrain herself and not rise to her son's taunts. Reminding herself that it was more important to get her son to become reasonable instead of punishing right now – she could punish him later anyway – she tried to explain the error in his thinking, “No, son, my 'abuse' as you erroneously put it… it just made you more of what you already were back then – a weakling.”

Naruto indignantly responded, “What I was, was your son… your child!”

“Why should I put your ridiculous feelings above your needs?” Kushina challenged him, bristling at her son's stubborn unwillingness to accept that she did what was right and necessary.

“And just what needs are you talking about? My need to get punished for simply being a child? My needs to be locked up and starved because I disappointed you? My need to be dissected because I could not get a spell right? Or my need have my bones broken and my flesh seared for crying or being unable to take a life?!” Naruto challenged right back with disbelief at his mother's audacity.

“Your need was to be rid of your humanity, your weakness,” Kushina ground out through gritted teeth, clearly making an effort to keep herself under control, “And seeing how you were and how you have turned out proves that I was right in my handling of you. Before me stands a young man who I can acknowledge as my child without feeling deeply ashamed, unlike the abortion you used to be. You would do well to remember not to question me like a lesser being would. I am a goddess – my word is law, and my wisdom and judgement are beyond questioning.”

Naruto clenched his fist and ground out, “Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to argue with your mother when your mother has a freaking god-complex?!”

Kushina got no chance to respond as Naruto continued to rant, “Everything is a tautology with you! Your grand explanation always come down to 'Because I told you so' or, 'It had to be done'.”

Locking eyes with Kushina, Naruto told her, “You may have deluded yourself into believing you did what you had to do, but you were a terrible mother, and a colossal failure at that.”

“I might not have handled everything perfectly,” Kushina growled out even more harshly between still-gritted teeth and demanded, “But tell me… could I have purged your humanity from you if by coddling you? What would you have done about you?”

“I certainly wouldn't have mutilated my kid for it!” he yelled out angrily, at which Kushina's eyes went wide with indignant shock before he continued, “But that's not the point! I only asked you to apologize for your wrongdoings, and you're too concerned with being right to give me one! You were my mother and you forsook me!”

There were several tense moments of silence as the mother and son glared each other down. Seeing that Kushina wasn't going to say anything, Naruto moved in closer, his face now just inches away from hers as his narrowed gaze bore into her eyes and stated, “You're really not going to say it.”

Kushina only narrowed her eyes in response. Having had enough of this argument, Naruto gave her one final jab, “Who is being difficult, now?”

Having said his piece, he turned around to take his leave, only for Kushina to grasp his arm with her inhumanly strong grip.

“Naruto, do not turn your back on me,” Kushina almost growled.

Naruto replied coldly without even turning around, “Why shouldn't I when you're the one who turned your back on me first?”

He then effortlessly tore his arm out of her Atlas-strengthened grip, causing Kushina even greater surprise, and teleported away, leaving her behind, shocked, fuming and frustrated.

_**Flashback end** _

Allowing her daughters to bring Naruto with them, would force him to interact with his sisters, which could be beneficial to both his and Mito's behavior. She realized she could kill two birds with one stone here if Fate was willing.

“And no, I don't mind you bringing your brother with you; you have my permission,” Kushina answered before ordering, “Go, time is of the essence. Do not fail me.”

“Yes Mother,” Mito said.

“We'll be on our way, then. Bye Mom!” Natsuko said cheerily, waving at her mother before running out of the room with her sister in tow. She had a boyfriend to wake up.

************* Line Break *************

The door slamming open and a loud shout of, “Ruto-kun, wake up! We're going to Bosco!” resounded through the space as Natsuko barged into her room.

Naruto eyes didn't open, but he did stir slightly and groggily muttered, “Mmm… not now… Bosco can…wait, wanna sleep…some more,” yawning between his words as they left his lips.

His sister would have none of it and muttered under her breath, “Mother knows how much I love you, but you got to wake up now,” before splashing him with water.

Naruto jumped up and out of bed instantaneously upon being doused by the cold water with a yell that sounded very much like an 'Eep!'

“What was that for?!” Naruto indignantly yelled.

Natsuko had the decency to look sheepish; she scratched the back of her head and apologized, “Hehe, sorry, Ruto-kun, but you were sleeping like a rock and I was in a hurry,” and added with a perverted giggle, “Besides, giving you my special wake-up call would've taken too long, hehe.”

Naruto blushed as he remembered how his playful nymph of a sister had woken him up a few days ago. She had definitely read too many of those orange books of hers, but in truth, he couldn't really complain about it. If anything, over the past two months, he had gained a new craving in the form of sex. _'At least people can't claim that I only think about ramen anymore…'_ he dryly thought.

It was then that an audible gasp alerted Naruto to the fact that Natsuko wasn't alone. He noted Mito standing in the room, staring at him with her hand over her mouth as he stood there in nothing but his underwear. A puff of smoke quickly obscured him from sight and in an instant, he was dressed. He used his magic to do so as he felt extremely uncomfortable at anyone looking at his body because of his scars. He felt mutilated and hideous; it made him very uncomfortable with his body. He was only comfortable in such a state around Natsuko, and that was only because of the relationship the two of them currently shared.

Mito stared in shock at her brother. He was covered with so many scars! She could only gape in shock as she wondered: is this why he always covered himself so much? Who did this to him?

“What's _she_ doing here?” Naruto hissed, causing Mito to flinch and avoid eye contact.

“Don't be like that, Ruto-kun,” Natsuko chided him gently and explained, “Mom wants us to go to Bosco to retrieve an ancient tablet. I want to bring you with us and Mom gave me permission to do so, and we're supposed to leave as soon as possible, so that's why I had to wake you up quickly!”

“Ugh… I'm so not in the mood for this,” Naruto mumbled. Right now, he just wanted to sleep!

“Aww, come on, it'll be fun!” Natsuko pouted. Seeing that Naruto gave her a deadpan, she looked at him with puppy dog eyes and added, “Do it for your girlfriend? Pleeease?”

 _'On the bright side, at least I won't have to put up with Kushina while I'm tagging along,'_ Naruto thought before he grumpily relented, “Alright, alright, I'll come. But I'm still tired, so you're going to carry me.”

“Huh? What do you…mean?” Natsuko trailed off as her brother morphed into what looked like the most adorable thing she had ever seen in her life: a red-orange furred fox with red eyes and ten bushy tails **(1)**. She gasped at how cute her brother looked and judging by the look on Mito's face, she thought so as well. With a mischievous grin, she scooped her boyfriend-turned-fox up and set him on her lap.

“N-Natsuko!” Naruto shouted as she rubbed her cheeks against his snout. As Natsuko continued her nuzzling, she ended up rubbing against his whiskers and – to Naruto's horror and his sister's surprise – he began to purr. The Uzumaki sisters blinked and stared at him before Natsuko broke the silence.

“CUTE!!!” Natsuko squealed before she grabbed him and held on to him tight like a plushy toy, pressing Naruto firmly between her luscious globes.

“I'm NOT cute! I am--" Naruto began to protest before his Natsuko laid him back on her lap without warning and began to rub him behind his ear.

“You're my cute, little fuzzy troublemaker, yes, you are!” his sister cooed.

“S-Stop that! I'm not a plushy toy…!” Naruto halfheartedly objected while he whimpered, “Ohh, keep doing that…” under the attention of his sister's magic hands.

In his defense, he couldn't help it; he was very sensitive! It did not take long before he rolled onto his back with his tails wagging and Natsuko now rubbing his belly, all the while calling him all kinds of cutesy names like 'fluffy wuffy' and 'silly foxy'. He was absolutely putty in her hands. After a minute, Natsuko finally stopped playing with Naruto and sighed, “Come on Foxy, we gotta go; don't wanna make Mom angry,” and motioned for Naruto to climb on, which he quickly did as he made himself comfortable around her shoulders.

Mito could do nothing but gaze upon the scene in front of her with longing and sadness. She wanted to be in her sister's shoes so much, but she knew it was a fool's hope. She had wasted her chances by her behavior towards Naruto before he utterly devastated her in combat. Mito said nothing; she just nodded and turned around, making her way to leave the castle with Natsuko on her heels.

************* Line Break *************

It didn't take long for the trio to reach Bosco. They had quickly brought them close to their destination thanks to Natsuko 'water traveling' the three of them through the ocean and rivers, but they still had a few miles to go by foot. The journey was quiet and Naruto decided to enjoy the silence while it lasted. He could sense a large group of mages up ahead in the direction they were heading – mostly fodder, although three signatures stood out between the crowd of magical blips.

When they arrived at their destination, Natsuko looked at the crowd of masked mages, Grimoire Heart soldiers. Judging by their magic power and looks, they were mere grunts. She turned to Mito with a mischievous grin and challenged her, “Mito, let's play 'human hunt'. Whoever kills the most of these grunts wins!”

“I'm not in the mood…” Mito softly replied, avoiding eye contact with her sister.

Natsuko frowned. Her sister was strong and fierce – not this pile of self-doubt and meek timidity! She had been like this for the past month and it was beginning to worry her! She didn't understand why Mito became so quiet and subdued, but she resolved to find out after they finished this task. Not wasting any time, Natsuko unleashed a stream of Styx water at the crowd of soldiers.

“INCOMING!”

Some of the soldiers managed to jump out of the way just in time, whilst others were not so lucky. Bone-chilling screams filled the area as the bodies of the soldiers who were hit by the ominous stream dissolved into the water itself. Nothing remained of the unfortunate souls who were completely engulfed; those who were partially engulfed were left in agony as they were partially washed away by the chthonic water.

“Y-You guys saw that?! That witch erased them! She fucking erased them just like that!” one of the soldiers hysterically shouted.

“You saw that, Foxy-kun? I know you told me how the Styx is supposed to dissolve everything that lives, but seeing it for real is so much cooler!” Natsuko enthusiastically exclaimed.

“Where did you learn that?” Mito asked, visibly shocked at her sister's display of new magic.

“Ruto-kun taught me!” Natsuko answered happily before telling Naruto, “Hold on tight!” and jumping into the crowd of soldiers with her blades out, weaving around their attacks and cutting through them with ease, all the while singing, “La la, la la la la la na na na na,” to herself. Occasionally Naruto would casually swing one of his tails to bat one of these pests away or to throw a salvo of hardened hair strands around.

“Oh…” Mito faintly muttered under her breath, averting her eyes once more and returning her attention to the matter at hand. A quick burst of fire incinerated the incoming magic projectiles. **“Kagutsuchi's Bursting Fireball,”** she hurled a fireball at the panicking soldiers which split into many smaller fireballs. The moment the fireballs made contact with the ground of an unfortunate soldier, they exploded, reducing the surrounding soldiers to ashes.

“I know a fun game we can play,” Natsuko said, giddy with excitement, just before she allowed one soldier to 'bisect' her with his sword.

“Hah, we got her!” shouted one of the soldiers, followed by victorious cheers from the others, glad to be rid of the infuriatingly playful girl. The moment of triumph quickly vanished when they saw Natsuko's horrified expression turn into a playful smile again. She quickly turned into vapor and entered the body of the soldier who had just cut her without them noticing. The only thing the girl left behind was her pet fox, who strangled everyone who tried to attack it with its tails before snapping their necks.

“Where did the girl go?” one of the soldiers nervously asked.

“I have no--” the soldier who cut Natsuko began to say, but to everyone's horror, the words died in his mouth when spikes of ice shot out of his body, instantly ending his life. The ice liquefied and Natsuko reformed herself, arms spread as she exclaimed, “Ta-da!”

Naruto jumped back on Natsuko's shoulder as she picked up the sword of the man she had just killed and twirled it around. “You should not play around with pointy things; you could poke someone's eye out,” she playfully said before cheerfully continuing, “Alright, since you humans are so excited, let's play something else!”

More vapor spread through the area, leading the soldiers to wonder what she was doing. They got their answer soon as the bodies of half the soldiers stiffened.

“My body… it's moving on its own!” shouted one of the affected soldiers.

Natsuko mock apologized, “Oops! Sorry, I forgot to tell that if you can't hold your breath, you lose,” and announced, “Okay, time to play! Ready, set, and…go!”

The affected soldiers began to turn on their allies, attacking them against their will. Naruto frowned – as much as a fox could frown, that is – and noted, _'How ironic, she's forcing them to do what's second nature to them.'_

“Okay, let's make things more interesting,” Natsuko murmured to herself before changing the properties of the vapor the soldiers had breathed, the ones who were defending themselves from their allies who she was controlling, that is. The soldiers suddenly began to cower in fear as they drowned in hopelessness while others screamed in unbridled agony or couldn't remember how to fight anymore. The result was the same: they were unable to fight back against the soldiers who were forced to attack them.

“Team A wins! Now that was fun to watch,” Natsuko said, her playful smile never leaving her face, “You boys deserve a prize.”

Repeating the same trick, she converted the vapor into 'Styx vapor', which completely dissolved the bodies of the remaining soldiers. Mito looked perplexed at her sister's new magic. What in their Mother's name had Naruto taught her?

Another group of the Grimoire Heart soldiers tried to attack the blue-haired girl from a distance by firing spells at her. Natsuko yawned and drawled “You are starting to get boring. I don't like boring humans,” before dark blue water began to swirl around Natsuko's hands. **“Flooding of the Styx!”** she slammed her palms to the ground and a big tidal wave of the same sinister dark blue water sprang forth from her hands with the intent of erasing each and every human nearby from the world of the living.

“ **Kagutsuchi's Fire Fist,”** Mito unleashed a wide column of flames in tandem with her sister's attack.

Much to their surprise, the tidal wave abruptly vanished and the flames were…consumed? Mito narrowed her eyes at the three interlopers in front of her. She could tell by their magic power – which did not impress her in the least – that they were in charge of these humans. The soldiers felt their morale returning now that their superiors, three members of their guild's strongest team, the Seven Kin of Purgatory, stepped in.

The man who ate her flames was coughing and looked like he almost choked on something. Had red eyes and long, spiky blond hair that reached down to his lower back. He wore a yellow and dark blue skirt-like armor with a red waist ribbon that exposed the right side of his chest as well as his right shoulder, where his guild mark tattoo was located.

The pale-skinned woman next to the man possessed dark purple hair that fell straight down her back and brown eyes. She wore a skin-tight, sleeveless battle suit which was divided into three sections: the main body of the suit and the legs of the suit from the thigh down were both white with black patterning, with the space between them being a deep brown. The entire suit was trimmed with gold patterns, and she sported a matching white headband. On her arms, she wore long black sleeves, with the section from her elbow down bearing chunky, gray wrist-guards.

The last member of the group, oddly enough, was a tall, humanoid goat who donned a distinctive black jacket with short, puffy sleeves – which only covered the upper part of his chest – over a similarly shaped, pale yellow shirt with an extremely short, flat-ended green tie. He wore black pants reaching down below his goat knees, with each of their upper sides being adorned by a white motif composed of a stripe going down from his waist and crossed with two more, slightly curved ones, plus a brown belt covered in a line of small circles and closed by an elongated oval buckle. He also sported a pair of dark, plain metal armbands circling his wrists

“Literally bit off more than you can chew, Zancrow?” the woman asked her flame-eating companion with amusement.

“Screw you, Ultear! Her flames were just a bit spicy, that's all!” Zancrow fired back, having recovered from his coughing fit.

“You should not underestimate your enemies,” the goat spoke without emotion.

Zancrow snorted and arrogantly addressed Mito and Natsuko, “I don't know who the hell you guys are, but you picked the wrong guild to mess with when you decided to attack the strongest guild, Grimoire Heart! Now get lost or die!”

“He puts it rather crudely, but he's right. Turn around or face the consequences,” Ultear warned.

Mito expresed turned ice cold and with narrowed her eyes she demanded, “Who do you think you are to threaten us, humans?”

“Ultear Milkovich, leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, and with are Caprico and Zancrow of the Seven Kin of Purgatory.”

“It's God Slayer Zancrow, not just Zancrow!” Zancrow corrected Ultear before turning back to the Uzumaki sisters, “And you two, are about to burn! Ahahaha!” Zancrow psychotically laughed.

“Ultimate Milk Sandwich…? Even my mother isn't cruel enough to give me a name like that, I'll just call you 'Ul' for simplicity’s sake,” Naruto lazily commented, much to Natsuko's amusement – who snickered at her brother's cheek – and Ultear's anger at the indirect mention of her mother and being called 'Ul'.

“I want that fox skinned…” Ultear said in a dark tone.

“ **Flame God's Bellow!”** Zancrow breathed a massive black fireball of flame at the female duo.

Caprico activated his Human Subordination magic to weaken the physical and magical abilities of the female duo. Unknown to him, it had no effect on them at all due to the sisters not being human.

“Have a taste of your own medicine,” Mito said as took control of the incoming fireball with a wave of her hand and directed the back at Zancrow, hitting him head-on with his own flames, which he could not consume.

Zancrow got up, looking slightly singed from the back-fired attack. “What the?! How can you control the flames of a god?!” he demanded.

“Your flames are useless against an actual Goddess of Fire,” Mito coldly said and unsheathed her sword.

Zancrow's eyes went wide as the red-haired woman crossed the distance faster than he could register and was about to cut him in two, were it not for Caprico pulling him out of the way. Even so, both of them still sported an ugly, bleeding cut across their stomachs.

Ultear was only doing slightly better, using her Arc of Time magic to fend off a few Natsuko's water attacks by forwarding their time, causing them to evaporate and vanish. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Zancrow and Caprico would not last long and they had already lost half of the soldiers they had brought with them. This fight was ridiculously one-sided and was over as soon as it started – they had to escape, this instant!

“ _Caprico, use Recall. Quickly!”_ Ultear telepathically commanded.

“ **Flash Forward!”** Ultear produced numerous copies of her lacrima orb in the air, which represented 'future possibilities' of the telekinetically-controlled orb's paths, compressed their futures, and redirected them all at Natsuko and Mito in order to distract them.

“ **Recall!”** Caprico clapped his hands and all the soldiers vanished as they were stored away by his Human Subordination magic.

Ultear wasted no time and made a break for her wounded allies, grabbed onto the and activated an teleportation lacrima she saved for emergencies like this. They disappeared in the nick of time, just before a blast of golden fire and dark blue water could hit them.

“Aww, no fair. They got away!” Natsuko whined.

Mito sat down on a rock and placed one hand against her forehead. “You're forgetting the fact that we don't know where that tablet is and now that they've fled, we can't make them tell us,” she muttered, disappointed with herself for letting the humans escape before obtaining the information they needed.

“No need to get your panties in a twist. I took the liberty to read that woman's mind,” Naruto said – having turned back into his normal form – drawing the girls' attention to him and he gave them a stern glare, “So… is there a reason why you didn't tell me this entire job is about The One Magic?”

“Because…you never asked?” Natsuko offered.

“…” Naruto just stared at her for a few more seconds before sighing, “No, I didn't ask.”

Naruto then shrugged and said, “Fine, it doesn't matter anyway; it's foolishness to go after something you can't have.”

“Meh, you know how Mom is. If she wants something, it's going happen one way or another,” Natsuko said, “So, where are we supposed to go now?”

“This tablet is supposed to be nearby, in a town to the east from here,” Naruto answered before the trio embarked towards their destination.

************* Line Break *************

Menma looked at the middle-aged man next to him with disgust. How loathsome it was to require one of these weak humans to put the results of his training to the test. He even had to 'persuade' the base creature in front of him to cooperate! Ever since the failure had humiliated him, he had plunged himself into his training. He would not be caught off guard again like the last time.

“Erect another barrier and do it before I lose my patience!” Menma sneered at the quivering man.

“Y-Yes, of c-course,” the man stammered and erected a circular, yellow barrier formed around them. He was deathly afraid of this mysterious, black-haired young man's temper. He came from nowhere and encircled his village with a giant stone wall. The man demanded for a mage to create barriers for him to test his spells against. He didn't want to do this, but this monster threatened to kill everyone in the village with his golems if his demands were not met.

Menma turned his attention back to the barrier. This time it was going to work – he just knew it! He focused his magic and loose a pulse of magic which was meant to delete magical barrier particles. Triumphantly, he witnessed the barrier fading away – his barrier nullification technique was a success! He could have made his own barriers, but that he had to make sure that it wasn't just his own barriers which he could dispel, so the barrier had to be made by someone else.

He was broken out of his reverie when he heard the pitiful human who assisted him carefully ask him, “W-Will you l-leave us alone now?”

“I did say that, didn't I? Well, I won't bother you where you're going,” Menma answered with a cruel smile and lazily flicked his hand.

“ **Jord's Asgardian Manhunter,”** nothing seemed to happen at first, but then the ground began to shake.

“Please, don't! I did what you wanted! You said you'd…AAAAAHHHH!!” the man screamed. A serpent made out of stone shot out from the ground and devoured him in an instant.

“If I had to hear that insect's sniveling for even one more second…” Menma muttered to himself.

He looked in the direction of the village he had 'promised' to spare was and frowned, “That village is ruining my view,” and clapped his hands together. A second later, each and every building in the village collapsed, killing many of its inhabitants and leaving the survivors homeless.

Menma brushed his hands together and took a moment to admire his handiwork until he heard a male voice behind saying, “To think that I would run into his spitting image…”

Menma jerked around and immediately commanded spears of stone to impale the intruding stranger – who was garbed in a black, hooded cloak with lavender lining, a grey, long-sleeved, collared shirt, over which he wore a periwinkle vest, black pants, a purple belt, and a dark grey, fingerless glove on his hand, apparently missing his left arm. The spears failed to hit their mark as the effortlessly dodged them without any wasted motion and made a straight break for him. He tried to halt the stranger in his tracks, but to his annoyance, the stranger's reflexes were better than he had expected as the man leaped up just as he turned the ground beneath the stranger into quicksand. Seeing that his target was now left wide open, he formed a boulder in his hand and hurled it at the now-airborne stranger, only for the attack to miss due to the man performing a double jump.

Menma scowled at how this human avoided his attacks, “That's it. You're asking for it!” and slammed his hand to the ground, launching a series of stone spears at the hooded stranger. The stranger unsheathed his sword – a chokuto – and expertly deflected the incoming projectiles. The hooded stranger was upon him before he got the chance to cast another spell and tapped his shoulder, causing glowing marks to rapidly spread all over his body. His body froze up, restrained in place, and he felt his magic was likewise restrained.

“Bastard!” Menma spat, “What did you do to me?!”

The mysterious stranger ignored his question and took a step back. Menma could feel the man's eyes seizing him up despite being his face being obscured. After a moment, the man spoke up, “You look just like him.”

“Eh? I look like who? Start making sense before I bury you ten feet under!” a confused Menma demanded.

“You simply look exactly like someone I knew, save for the color of your hair and eyes. His name is Naruto,” the mysterious man answered, making Menma glower at him, “Why, if it was not for your magic feeling…weaker, I could have sworn you were him.”

“You dare compare me to _him_?! Do you even know who I am? I am Menma Uzumaki, God of Earth, son of Goddess Kushina! And I am mightier than Naruto!” Menma bellowed.

The man was not impressed and stated, “Mightier than Naruto? Hn. I doubt that.”

“Filthy human, how dare you call me weaker than the bastard that is supposed to be my brother?! Naruto is only good at trickery and nothing else! A human is no match for a god and I will prove my superiority overNaruto when I kill him with my own two hands! And you will die for claiming I'm weaker than him!”

“You think you can actually kill Naruto?” the hooded man rhetorically asked with a degree of incredulousness, “You, a simpering wad of insecurity and insipid self-loathing? No, you're just a demigod. And you're not much of one at that.”

The hooded man added, “To say that Naruto is human could not be any further from the truth. He is something beyond your imagination, powerful in ways that defy description. Where I come from, we call him the Ten-Tailed Devil: an unstoppable force of nature, hatred and cataclysm given form. Your goal of killing him is foolishness; it can't be done…” the man said, staring into Menma's eyes with his own onyx black eyes, “…but he can be sealed away.”

“Tch… Why seal him instead of killing him?” Menma snorted, denying the man's words, “Besides, my sister has already wiped the floor with him and he needed trickery to gain the upper hand against me. Now that I'm prepared for him, he's lost that advantage. Your claims are empty.”

“Ignorant fool, you have no idea of the depth of what he's capable of! I already told you that he can't be killed. Sealing him away with special magic was the only thing we could do back then,” the man said before pulling out a vial which contained a silver grey liquid out of his pocket and held it up, “This poison contains some of the magic we used to fight Naruto, the ONLY kind of magic which is truly effective against him. It won't kill him, BUT it'll weaken him…” and added in a soft murmur, “…hopefully enough.”

“As if I would need the help of a lowly human. I've had enough of you acting like that bastard is invincible,” Menma scowled.

Although he couldn't see it, he could swear he saw the hooded man frown, “Invincible? No. Think what you will, but let me tell you this: the Naruto I know is a mountain of 'pissed off' as you youngsters would put it. You don't know what he is capable of in his anger, and as bad as he was, after being sealed for so long, he's probably even worse now.”

The man placed the vial into Menma's pocket, much to Menma's confusion, who asked him, “Why are you giving me this?”

Before turning around and walking away, the hooded man answered with utmost seriousness, “Now that Naruto's seal is broken, he must be sealed away once more, unless this world suffers for it. If you intend to fight him, then you will need that.”

“Hey, wait! Undo this seal at once!” Menma demanded.

A few steps later, the man stopped to say, “The binding magic I used to immobilize you will wear off in about…ten minutes,” before leaving him to his own thoughts, most of them too angry to take the stranger's words about his brother seriously.

When Menma's bindings came undone, the first thing he did in his anger, was crush the vial the stranger handed him beneath his feet.

“Tch. I don't need this. Who does that human think he is? Just wait until you cross paths with me again…”

************* Line Break *************

It had been a short and uneventful ten miles to Lothering, the town where the tablet his sisters were supposed to retrieve was located. The architecture of the buildings was rather medieval, but that wasn't the most striking thing: the entire settlement looked like it was abandoned. It was only an eerie wind that would break the silence every now and then.

“Hmph, isn't this just a sight for sore eyes? Where did everybody go? This place looks like a ghost town!” Natsuko complained, arms folded over her chest, as she walked through the abandoned streets with Naruto and Mito behind her.

“It's not abandoned; there are people up ahead, and I suspect they don't like visitors if that barrier was anything to go by,” Naruto noted. On their way, they ran into a barrier that mentally influenced whoever tried to reach this town, leading them around and away from Lothering. He had to admit it was pretty neat: subtle and barely detectable. Were it not for his senses and eye magic, he and his sisters would now be walking in circles.

“Let's get that tablet and get out of here – I don't like this place one bit,” Naruto said. He couldn't lay his finger on it, but there was something about this place that disturbed him – something dark, depraved.

The trio made their way through the streets until they entered the town square. The residents of Lothering, all dressed in long, hooded, blood red ceremonial robes embroidered in gold, had gathered before a statue of a giant ten-tailed fox and ten altars in what seemed to be a religious or ceremonial gathering of cultists.

Naruto gasped as he recognized the black marble statue to be his Ten-Tails form, a form the people of ancient Edolas had christened the 'Ten-Tails'. _'What in my name is this?! A statue of the Ten-Tails – a symbol of destruction? How do they even know about that?! That is ancient history from another world!'_

Mito was shocked as well. This statue… there was no mistaking it – it resembled the same fear-inspiring silhouette she briefly saw had seen when during her battle with her brother. She could not help but wonder what the connection between her brother and this place was.

Natsuko was both confused and curious. The statue that apparently shocked her siblings, looked like a much scarier version of her brother's super cute fox form. She didn't get why her siblings were so shocked – it was probably just coincidence. She wanted to go over to the crowd before Naruto stopped her.

“Wait,” Naruto told her in a hushed tone.

“Why?” Natsuko asked, confused as to why Naruto stopped her.

“Because… just listen to me, okay?” Naruto answered quietly. He had to know what was going on here, even though his instincts screamed at him that he was not going to like it.

As such, the three of them stuck to the shadows, unnoticed by the cultists. With his Rinne Sharingan activated, he scrutinized the statue that was made in his monstrous likelihood from afar. His eyes fell on the statue's plateau, or more specifically, on the tablet that was fastened to it – it was the tablet of The One Magic! He was about to read the contents of the tablet, but the priest who seemed to be in charge of the cult picked that moment to turn to the cultists and open the ceremony that was about to take place, “Hail Comrades. Hail brothers and sisters. We are gathered here to commemorate our genesis – the enlightenment of all humanity, the true spirit of mankind and the revelation of our nature.”

It was then that Naruto made eye contact with the priest without his knowledge and read his memories. What he saw inside the priest's mind froze him on the spot, he could scarcely believe it – nothing could have prepared him for the sinister revelation. He saw everything these…abominations had done, every sin they committed in HIS name, not to mention that their ancestors had been doing so for centuries since crossing over to Earthland!

Ten children – all dressed in simple white robes – were brought forth and were strapped to the altars. The children were gagged and tried to struggle against the zealots with the exception of one young boy. One cultist leaned down towards the young boy in question, whom she had strapped down to one of the altars and told him how proud she was of her child.

“Let us pray and pay tribute, so that our Lord may reward our devotion and usher us into the promised age of darkness. Let us sacrifice for His return,” the priest said. As he said so, the cultists drew their ceremonial daggers and cut out the children's hearts.

While they didn't really feel sympathy for the human children, Mito and Natsuko were still disgusted by the gruesome scene in front of them. It was only more proof of what their mother had taught them about the depraved nature of humans. Naruto could only watch as these children – including one of these cultists' own – were slaughtered, too shocked to react as his mind was still catching up with what he had learned and what he was witnessing.

The priest gathered the still-beating hearts and placed them in a ceremonial bowl, which he lit on fire and placed in front of the Ten-Tails statue. The cultists went down to their knees, their hands clasped in a prayer as the priest began to chant.

“Oh you, who inhabits the primordial air, whom from the corners of the earth are all-powerful. To you it is said. Contemplate the glorious face of the Ten-Tails. The beginning of all consolation and whose eyes give clarity to the stars. Let the seasons be confused. And let it be that no creature shall be equal. Let all men fight among themselves. Let their work be mutilated and their homes be no more than caves for the beasts of the world.”

“Oh powerful king, blast the gates of hell wide open. Let the inferior heaven serve you. Govern the governing men and let those among them who fail meet an untimely death. Find all that strengthens to you and destroy all that is against you. Let no place stand firm.”

“Oh powerful king! Whose burning flame unveils the glorious Ten-Tails. You, who harbor the great secrets of truth. Open the mysteries of your creation and walk with fire upon the earth.”

As the priest continued to chant, Naruto's shock wore off and his anger rose with each word. He stood there trembling with his eyes shut and his fists clenched. He did not care for the troubles of humans, but he would not stand for this – they would pay, each of them to the last!

Mito was shocked beyond belief. These people thought her brother was some kind of devil or dark god who would bring hell to earth! She was unable to comprehend where these humans got that idea from.

Natsuko looked at her brother and what she saw made her gulp. Anger was rolling of him in waves and it reminded her of her mother when she was truly furious. She carefully asked, “Naruto? What's wrong?” which he ignored because he was too wrapped up in his anger.

“Oh, true Lord! Tell us the exact place in which you desire to be reborn!”

The ceremonial fire suddenly flared and turned a blood red. The sky became dark, turning day into night, and the wind began to pick up. The overjoyed priest announced “Rejoice, brothers and sisters, for our prayers have finally been heard! After a millennium, a new age is finally at hand!”

Turning back towards the statue, the priest began chanting anew, “In the name of the Ten-Tails. Lord of the Earth, King of the World. I order the forces of darkness to pour its infernal power over me. Let the gates of Hell open wide and from the abyss, greet me as your brother and friend! I order everything to be as I command!”

A thunderstorm formed, illuminating the dark sky with flashes of lightning and the ground shook heavily as the earth rumbled. An ominous, oppressive feeling permeated the air as a looming shadow fell over the cult. The cultists turned around to see cast the shadow and rejoiced at what they saw.

It could only be described as a massive freak storm – composed of dark thunderclouds – in the shape of a colossal ten-tailed fox-like figure that dwarfed the surrounding buildings **(2)**. Its terrifying appearance was enhanced by both the lightning that crackled all over the monster and the glowing red orbs that were its eyes.

The Uzumaki sisters looked at the giant beast their brother had turned into. Although they were not scared, it was still an intimidating sight, even by their standards.

The priest walked up to the Ten-Tails and dropped to one knee and reverently said, “My Lord,” with the cultists following suit.

“ **Miserable ingrates!”** Naruto furiously bellowed. His bellow stirred lightning strikes which destroyed several buildings all around Lothering.

“My Lord? What is it that displeases you so? Have you not appeared before us to reward the faith of your chosen?” the priest asked with sincere confusion on his face.

“ **The irredeemable taint of your wretched souls… I can literally smell it. For centuries, your ilk has stolen, cheated, destroyed, raped, and murdered, all for the sake of this very moment. You have committed every imaginable sin there is in my name and you have the nerve to expect a reward?! Humans have always been disappointments, but you… You are worse than humans,”** Naruto growled.

“ **I don't care for the suffering of your victims, but I won't stand for you hairless monkeys inflicting it in my name! But first, I'll take this…”** Naruto's voice rumbled before he struck at the black marble mockery before him without warning, instantly smashing it to pieces while grabbing the tablet they had come for at the same time. With his tails, he quickly scooped his sisters up. His sisters could only manage to release a startled yelp before they vanished into the stormy construct that was his Ten-Tails form.

Naruto crossed his arms in front of him and began to build up an immense of magic. “If you want hell, then you shall have it!” Naruto bellowed, before spreading his arms and releasing a great roar, stirring a series of massive natural disasters. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, thunderstorms, and tornadoes devastated the entire town and the surrounding area for miles. From all over Bosco and beyond, a vast mushroom cloud could be seen as the concurrent disasters culminated into an immense blast **(3)**.

And then, there was nothing. The entire landscape had been turned into a giant crater. His Ten-Tails construct began to shrink down in size until it disappeared, leaving only him – in human form – and his sisters behind. He looked at the tablet in his hand and noted it was written in Enochian. He snorted as he glanced over the tablet's contents – it was full of rubbish. He had intended to destroy it had it actually unveiled the truth behind The One Magic, but this might as well have been practical joke. If Kushina wanted this worthless brick of stone, she could have it and waste her precious time on deciphering it.

“Here's your mother's stupid tablet,” Naruto said, obviously still in a foul mood from the entire ordeal, and threw the tablet to Natsuko, who caught it.

Natsuko was utterly at loss at the connection between her brother, the Ten-Tails, and the cult he had just wiped out. “What just happened? How--” she began to ask.

“Don't,” Naruto coldly cut her off.

“But…!” Natsuko interjected.

“We will not speak of this and that's final,” Naruto told her in a stern voice that caused her to flinch.

Natsuko looked dejected over her brother's harsh refusal. True, she was curious, but her beloved brother was obviously not okay and she just wanted to help him. It hurt that he didn't trust her yet enough to confide her in and let her try to help him. “I meant well…” she whispered.

Naruto's eyes softened and placed on her head and telepathically whispered back, _“…I know, it's just…something I want to forget about.”_

Natsuko nodded reluctantly, trying to show understanding for her brother's reasoning. Despite his apology, she did not feel any less hurt over him closing up like this when it came to things which bothered him.

Mito remained silent all the while as her thoughts drifted off to what she had witnessed. What had happened for humans to fabricate the idea he was some kind of devil or dark god? How could they have prayed to him for centuries if he was only born fifty years ago? The cult, the Ten-Tails, everything… it was one mystery after another.

“Let's go back to the castle,” Naruto tiredly said before he used the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to teleport himself and his sisters back in front of his room. He felt exhausted – mentally, that was – from today's events and reached for the door's handle.

“Aren't you coming with us?” Natsuko asked.

“I'm retiring to bed; I'm tired,” Naruto answered, “Last thing I need is to have Kushina ruin my day any further. You two go see her without me.”

“Okay,” Natsuko answered softly before she and Mito left to deliver the tablet to their mother.

Naruto entered his room, tumbling into bed right away and drifted off to sleep within ten short minutes with his dreams haunted by images of a colossal ten-tailed fox laying waste to the land – to _her_ nursery.

**End of Chapter**

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_**A/N:** _

_**And that concludes another chapter. The plot thickens and things are coming to a head as various confrontations lie in store.** _

_**Just before some people start about my borrowing elements from Forgotten Fairy when writing Natsuko's behavior in combat, keep in mind that I originally made this story and its characters with that story as its basis with the author's blessings.** _

_**(1) That's right, Naruto shapeshifted into a chibi-Kurama. In this case he did so to easily and comfortably be carried.** _

_**(2) It's basically like a Kurama avatar made from Hiruko's Storm Release. In this story, he can create his Tailed Beast form out of whatever he wants.** _

 

_**(3) It's probably obvious, but for those who didn't release it yet, Naruto used Tenpenchii.** _


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**As usual, my thanks to npcfan for his help. :)** _

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**Start of Chapter**

Natsuko skipped through the castle corridors, all the while humming a tune to herself. She and Mito had just delivered the tablet to their mother. And speaking of her older sister, she had quickly left for her room as soon as Mother had dismissed them. Something was wrong with her sister and she wanted to have a word with her.

Natsuko tried to open the door to Mito's room once she got there, only to find that it wouldn't budge – her sister had locked herself in! She huffed in annoyance before knocking loudly. A frown marred her face as the locked-up redhead did not respond, prompting her knock even harder and shout, “Big sis! Let me in!”

“Leave me alone,” was Mito's weak reply.

“Nuh-uh! We need to talk! Now open the door or I'll break through!” Natsuko demanded.

A few second later the spell that locked the door was lifted and Natsuko immediately charged into Mito's room, which possessed a classic interior that was no less fancy than her own room. The flooring was made of cherry wood and was covered by a large Persian carpet in the middle of the room. Intricate, decorative wooden wall panels made up the walls. The walls led up to equally decorative ceiling panels. Large windows, framed by red curtains, offered a beautiful view over the island and the sea for the room was located in the upper levels of the castle's west tower. A painting of her big sister in her goddess form could be seen hanging above the hearth, which flickered ever so softly in accordance with Mito's mood, dimly lighting the room.

And there her big sister was…laying on her queen-sized bed, looking very depressed. Natsuko quickly skipped over to Mito and sat down right beside her. Her concern for her sister could clearly be heard when she asked, “Mito, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself.”

Instead of answering, Mito just turned her head away, averting her little sister's eyes.

“Come on, Mito! Talk to me! Tell me what's wrong!” Natsuko persisted.

“It's no use…” Mito muttered under her breath.

“This has gone on for long enough! My sister is a fierce and proud, not…this! This isn't you!” Natsuko continued with a raised voice, “You've been a mess ever since your fight with Naruto,” eliciting a flinch from her sister.

“Why would you care?” Mito softly asked, still looking away from Natsuko.

“Because you're my sister and I'm worried for you!” Natsuko said sympathetically, “This is about Naruto, isn't it?”

“I…I…” Mito's words remained stuck in her throat. Teardrops began to roll down her cheeks before she broke down into tears, “I'm a horrible sister!”

To say that Natsuko was shocked was an understatement – never before had she seen her big sister crying or look so lost and vulnerable! Shock quickly wore off, replaced by sisterly concern and she swung her arms around Mito to pull her into a comforting hug.

“You're not a horrible sister,” Natsuko gently said as she idly brushed her fingers through Mito's hair.

“I am!” Mito cried hysterically, “I…I tried to kill my big brother in cold blood! I almost did! I kept him prisoner here…because I only cared about myself! And now he hates me!”

“Oh Mito…” Natsuko softly whispered.

“I just wanted his love, and I ruined everything because of my pride! Knowing it's my fault and seeing him with you every day, it hurts…it hurts so much!” Mito continued to cry, her sobs turning into wails.

“Shh, big sis…” Natsuko soothed, letting her sister cry her heart out, “…he doesn't hates you.”

“How? How can he not?” Mito sobbed.

“Because he's just angry,” Natsuko answered, “You can't just give up like that! You got to at least try to set things right! Talk to him, he'll listen.”

Mito wiped the tears from her face and asked, “But what if he won't?”

“He will! Ruto-kun isn't unreasonable!” Natsuko insisted and offered, “If it helps, I can come with you.”

“Why do you want to help me? Don't you want to keep Naruto to yourself?” Mito asked, not understanding why her little sister would want to help mend the rift between her and Naruto.

“I already told you, because you're my sister, silly! I don't want you to be sad and unhappy,” Natsuko answered with an infectious smile, “Besides, sisters share everything, right?”

A small smile formed on Mito's face and she said, “Thank you, Natsuko. I needed that. You're right, I need to set things right with Naruto-kun,” and hugged her sister, a gesture she happily returned. Both enjoyed the moment of sisterly affection while it lasted before they stood up and set out to look for their older brother.

************* Line Break *************

“Mom! Have you seen Ruto-kun? We can't find him anywhere in the castle!” Natsuko's high-pitched voice rang through Kushina's throne room as said bluenette charged with Mito right behind her.

Kushina looked up from the crystal ball in her hand and with her usual blank expression told her daughters, “Your brother is on the mainland.”

“What?! He went off without telling me?!” Natsuko shrieked indignantly. Yesterday Mito and her went to see their brother, but he was already sleeping like a rock by the time they came to his room. He was a bit in a bad mood before he went to sleep, so they figured it would be for the best to wait until tomorrow, but her boyfriend was nowhere to be found and it was now pretty obvious why they couldn't find him anywhere in the castle. He could have at least told her instead of letting her search the entire castle for him!

“What's Naruto doing on the mainland, Mother?” Mito asked in a more respectful tone opposed to her sister's more childish one.

“Why don't you see for yourself,” was Kushina's answer before her crystal ball pulsed, washing her daughters in a wave of energy, showing them what she saw through her crystal ball.

************* Line Break *************

Naruto surveyed the cottage he had just barged into. This was the place where he had picked up that Ultear woman's magic before another surge messed his magic sensing up, which meant he had lost her trail. He was still recuperating from the long time he spent sealed and he swore it felt like he had caught the magical equivalent of a cold. On the bright side, it was only a matter of days now for his magic to stabilize. Perhaps he should have waited a little longer before going after this puny dark guild, but he really needed a distraction – Kushina was becoming more of a pain in his butt since their last argument _._

It turns out he had arrived here a little bit on the late side – the cottage was abandoned save for a handful of Grimoire Heart grunts. They didn't take kind to his unexpected visit and immediately attacked him, which is why his assailants were now reduced to nothing more than a bunch of charred corpses, roasted alive by his Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu – a classic if he said so himself. His Rinne Sharingan stared at the two grunts he had wrapped up in the roots of Wood Style: Underground Roots Jutsu, having spared them for interrogation…temporarily off course.

He grabbed one of the mages by his neck and hoisted him up before grasping the man's tongue and seemingly pulling it out. What he pulled out however, was not an actual tongue; it was a manifestation of his victim's life force. It was one of the many abilities his eye magic afforded him – the Naraka Path. This ability was ideal for interrogation; if his target lied or refused to answer, he could rip their life force out them in this manner.

“Where is your master?” he asked coldly.

His victim was stubborn, despite more or less having his tongue pulled out as far as his senses were concerned, and refused to answer, “Fuck you! You're not getting anything out of me!”

Naruto shook his head and sighed, “Fine, have it your way then,” before ripping his life force out and let go off him. The man's eyes rolled back as his lifeless body dropped to the ground.

The other mage looked horrified at this man apathetically killing his comrade by…ripping his tongue out. His horror turned to terror when the blonde turned to him.

“How about you? Are you going to be more cooperative than your friend here?” Naruto asked, gesturing towards the man he just killed.

“I ain't telling you anything!” the remaining mage blurted out in a moment of either foolishness or boldness. He was afraid, but he would not betray Master Hades!

Naruto frowned. Why did people always have to make this so hard? It was not like asked for that much. He placed his hand on the man's head and said, “You don't have to,” before yanking his soul out with the Human Path, learning everything the man knew and killing him instantly.

“So your guild intends to go to this Tenrou Island place to find the Black Mage Zeref to create this Ultimate Magic World, eh?” Naruto mused, processing what he just learned. He didn't know how this Ultimate Magic World and Grimoire Heart's interest in The One Magic were connected, but at least he knew where he could get his answers. He would confront the master of this guild when they set off for Tenrou Island. The master of this guild was clearly interested in The One Magic and that made it personal for him; Hades would pay the price for trying to get his hands on what does not belongs to him – or anyone else for that matter.

 _'Time to go back. I think I'm gonna try ramen with cheese – see if it's any good,'_ Naruto thought. He was broken out of his mouthwatering thoughts by a squelching sound and a painful sensation in his chest. He grunted as he looked down. The last thing he saw before his body began to turn to stone, was the large sword that stuck out of his chest and brought about this petrification.

“ **Ahahaha! Good riddance! That was way too easy, but it was expected; you're just a human after all!”** a rumbling voice behind the petrified Naruto laughed gleefully, revealing Menma in his god form, who had emerging from the soil and sneaked up behind Naruto.

“You were kidding with that, weren't you?” Naruto's unimpressed voice could be heard saying.

Startled by the sound of his brother's voice, Menma's jerked around to see Naruto standing there without a scratch, and looking bored to boot. He confusedly looked back at the clone he had just petrified before affixing his gaze once more upon his brother and stammered **“Wha…what? A clone? But…but when?!”**

Naruto stared at Menma for a moment before he said, “Boom,” with his lips curled into a grin that promised no good. As the word left his lips, the petrified clone violently detonated, blowing Menma back through the wall of the cottage Naruto had just visited. He blankly stared at the cottage he just blasted Menma into. Seconds later, the structure was reduced to rubble as Menma's expanding form burst out.

Naruto shook his head and mumbled to himself, “What is it with everyone thinking bigger is always better.”

“ **Die!”** Menma's voice boomed as he stomped his foot on Naruto, intent on squashing his brother like a bug. The force of his stomp tore up the terrain and whipped up a large dust cloud.

“ **In the end, you were still nothing but fodder! Raw power can't be overcome by wits!”** Menma boasted to himself, and for his mother to hear if she was looking, which he assumed she was. Once more, his victory was short-lived as he felt his foot being lifted from the ground, much to his astonishment.

“Then let's see how I'll fare if I use put some muscle into it,” Naruto said. He had 'caught' Menma's giant foot with his bare hands. With a small huff, he pushed, upsetting Menma's balance, and thred him back a tremendous distance.

“ **!!”** Menma was sent flying by the sheer force Naruto's push. The landscape was demolished where he crashed into the ground. Quickly getting back on his feet, he used his magic to rip a stone plateau out of the ground and took off into the air. With his hands cupped to his side, he formed countless sand particles and concentrated them into a single point between his hands. **“Jord's Sand Burial!”** he released an immense torrent of sand down to the surface – wide enough to encompass the entire area and turn it into a desert. He would scrape the flesh from his brother's bones and this time, there would be no escape!

He was then unexpectedly met with a fist to his face, which knocked him out of the air. It barely registered on him until after the strike – such was the swiftness behind his brother's attack, who had flown out of a portal. He stared up at his airborne brother and noted his eyes had become a sulfur yellow, indicating that he had activated his Six Paths Sage Mode, a heightened form of Sage Mode. Even if he would never admit it, those eyes unnerved him in a way only his mother could.

“ **Ridiculous…impossible…for you, a mere human, to corner me like this…”** Menma rambled before aiming his hand at Naruto, **“Even in my worst nightmare, such a thing could never happen!”**

Menma unleashed a gargantuan blast of green-colored magic from his hand. Wide-eyed, he witnessed his brother's take the blast head-on with his hand held up. Instead of obliterating him like his spell was supposed to, it was absorbed!

Having gotten back to his feet already, Menma jumped back and began to exercise his mastery over the earth to send huge streams of sand after Naruto in an attempt to trap him. When he did, he would paint the sand red with his blood! Things did not turn out the way he had in mind for his slippery brother proved to be nigh-impossible to catch. His speed and reflexes were…inhuman. Readjusting his approach, he made the sand form a giant globe and with a flex of his hand, the sand globe imploded in on itself.

Naruto activated his Rinne Sharingan and used Kamui to phase through the sand. He fixed Menma with a sharp look and said, “Enough,” before unleashing his Adamantine Sealing Chains. Golden chains of magic shot out of his back and dug into the ground.

Menma watched with a sense of apprehension at what Naruto was doing – he did not have to wait long to find out when golden chains with sharp, kunai-shaped tips and spikes on its links burst out of the ground. He tried to avoid capture by the magic chains by getting out of the way, but it was for naught. The chains were faster than he was and his size made him an easy target. The chains ensnared him painfully tight, digging into his flesh and drawing blood.

 _ **'What is this?! What happened to my magic?!'**_ Menma thought, visibly alarmed. Somehow, these chains neutralized his magic, preventing him from escaping by turning his body into sand. Breaking the chains with brute force was also a bust: they were extremely durable – too durable for even his god form to contend with.

“Don't even bother breaking free. Those chains are unbreakable,” Naruto said, looking bored with Menma's attempts to break free.

“ **Unbreakable? I'll show you unbreakable when I--”** Menma shouted, incensed at how his supposedly-weak brother was doing this to him. This was not supposed to happen!

“Quit your whining. I can think of a thousand ways to kill you right now. And nine-hundred-forty-one of them hurt,” Naruto coldly cut him off and he began to absorb Menma's magic through his chains. As he did so, he wove a set of hand seals. **Wind Style: Sickle Weasel Jutsu** , he brought forth a powerful gale and manipulated it to form countless invisible wind-blades, grievously wounding his brother.

“ **Bwaaagh!!”** Menma screamed. He was painted black by the viscous, oil-like blood that poured out of the countless cuts he received all over his body from the razor-sharp, invisible assault. The only reason he hadn't been completely sliced into ribbons was because of his god form's durability, which was enhanced by the bronze rock which covered his skin. With his ability to heal neutralized, and his power rapidly being sucked out of him, the experience was an agonizing one.

“This isn't exactly rubbing salt into your wounds, but it'll do,” Menma heard Naruto say with a tone that belied a twisted and cruel sense of humor combined.

Naruto inhaled deeply and made set of hand seals. **Wind Style: Infinite Sand Cloud – Great Breakthrough** , he blew out a gust of wind together with magic-coated sand.

The sand inside the powerful squall scraped away at Menma's flesh and literally rubbed sand into his wounds as he screamed, **“GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”**

Naruto's senses suddenly alarmed him to a hostile presence behind him while he watched his brother struggle and scream. He immediately side-stepped the near-instantaneous surprise attack. Emitting wind magic from his fingertips, he formed a Blade of Wind **(1)** and wasted no time to swing his arm behind him to bisect the interloper with the near-invisible, wind longsword. His attack missed its target for the hooded interloper vanished, most-likely teleportation magic. From the corner of his eyes he saw his assailant reappeared in another attempt to blindside him and he made a roundhouse kick enhanced by another Blade of Wind. The result was the same: the interloper evaded the attack just like the previous one.

 **Fire Style: Hiding in Ash and Dust Jutsu** , he expelled magic-infused ash from his mouth, blanketing a wide area around him. This spell was a powerful deterrent from attacks, burning everyone who comes in contact with it. It was just his luck though the mage he tried to burn, was apparently resistant to heat. Taking advantage of the smokescreen his spell had created, he unleashed a flurry of swings and kicks, each attack extended by blades of wind which were subsequently thrown at his opponent. It was an incredibly fast-paced, lethal dance where the momentum of each motion was carried over into the next. The interloping mage however, continued to vanish every time he was about to hit him – it was almost like this mage was a step ahead of him at all times!

He activated his Rinne Sharingan and created a shadow to attack the man and narrowed his eyes upon seeing that the result was no different than before. If this mage just happened to have very good reflexes, then he would not have been able to anticipate his Limbo: Border Jail. But he did anticipate his undetectable shadow, so that proved his theory correct: this mage was able to keep up with him because he was capable of precognition! It reminded him of someone with a similar ability, but he rejected the thought for it was too far-fetched.

Before he could continue to ponder on his opponent’s foresight or reflexes, the cloaked mage reappeared away from him. He jerked around immediately and took a deep breath. **Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction** , he expelled a massive torrent of fire from his mouth. The stranger responded with an equally great stream of blue flames of his own. The two fire spells met and appeared evenly matched – both trying to overcome the other.

 _'That's_ … _Satan's Blaze? The blue flames that leave no ashes behind, the precognition…I know only one person who can use that particular combination of magic,'_ Naruto processed with no small amount of surprise and shook his head in denial, _'No, that can't be; it's not possible.'_

 **Amaterasu** , black flames ignited where the streams of fire were still battling for dominance, consuming both the blue flames and his own in the process. His opponent realized the impending danger and made sure to get out of the way before he ended up being incinerated. As far-fetched as it seemed, if this man was who he thought he was, then his precognition was most likely the Mystic Eyes of Precognition: eye magic that allows the user to see seconds ahead into the future.

This was getting tedious – he had to resort to more creative methods to deal with this pest. Ocular illusions were no good for the stranger seemed to make sure to avoid his eyes – something which only gave more credence to his suspicions. He exhaled a cloud of smoke to cover himself and made a hand sign, initiating an illusion that altered his opponent's perception and effected the entire area so that his enemy could not avoid it – the mage in before him might at best be able to break it, but given the subtlety of the illusion and the fact his opponent should not have been able to see him cast the spell he doubted the likelihood of that happening.

The interloper had already teleported behind him, not wanting to give him time to do whatever he had in mind. He moved out of the way and ordered his shadow to intercept the stranger and this time, his ploy worked out! His shadow grabbed the offender's lunging arm and slammed his assailant into the ground hard enough to break a normal man's back, his hood no longer covering his face, revealing a familiar, but aged face, framed by spiky, grey hair which completely covered his left eye – all within a moment's notice. Disbelief was written all over his face and he took a step back upon seeing the face of his attacker. Sprawled on the ground before him, was none other than Sasuke Uchiha!

In that short moment of shock, the chains which had ensnared Menma – who had reverted back to normal because of the magic he had lost – faltered briefly, allowing him just enough reprieve to heal the majority of his wounds through the earth before his brother's chains tightened their grip and neutralized his magic once more. He strained to raise his head to see what made Naruto stop scraping the flesh of his bones. He saw it was the same cloaked stranger who had ambushed him before, but this time laying on his back without his hood and cloak obscuring his face!

“Sasuke…how can this be? You can't be alive,” Naruto whispered under his breath, bewildered by his former brother being alive after all these centuries. The signs were there during this brief scuffle, but it was so unbelievable that he dismissed his assailant to be his former little brother. Surely he could not have traveled through time? There were few mages who could manipulate time and even then, a feat like that required more magic than was available in Edolas.

“You…!” Menma wheezed out, earning himself his brother's attention once more.

In an instant, Naruto was upon his brother with a rasengan in his hand, laced with curse seal markings. **Magnet Style: Rasengan** , he smashed the sphere into his restrained brother's stomach. The markings quickly spread over Menma's body, completely immobilizing him. Menma only managed to cry out, “Guah!” before he lost what little mobility he had left. The magic chains which had confined released him, retracting back into Naruto's back, who had turned his attention back to Sasuke now that Menma was taken care of

Sasuke groaned as he slowly got back to his feet, using his sword as a makeshift cane. Had he not cushioned the blow with his magic, his back would have been broken, but even so, he was still wrecked by pain.

“It's been awhile…Naruto,” Sasuke said, still catching his breath from being slammed into the ground so hard.

“Spare me the chit-chat. How are you alive? Why are you here?” Naruto demanded with narrowed eyes.

“I've been asleep for the last nine centuries. It was not until two months ago that I was woken up from my slumber,” Sasuke answered.

Naruto quickly connected the dots and his expression settled into one of cold anger as his voice gained a dangerous edge to it, “Now I see. You've placed yourself in a stasis, only to wake up in the event the seal broke. That's why you're here, to seal me away, again!”

“I did. I can't risk letting you loose upon the world once more,” Sasuke confirmed.

“Wretched bastard!” Naruto spat, “Who made you my warden? What gives you the right?!”

“Someone has to do it! I had no choice after what you did,” Sasuke countered, “Your rampage left the land devastated and without magic, not to mention the millions of people who died because of you! You trapped the entire world in an eternal illusion, an eternal nightmare, a fate everyone would still have suffered had we not sealed you way. Did you honestly think I can let you roam around freely in good conscience, knowing you'd just do the same again?”

“Oh, so you're a seer now?” Naruto snorted, sarcasm dripping from his tongue.

“I know you, Naruto; we were brothers. You were beset by hatred ever since my…betrayal. Hatred of me, hatred of humans, of life, of the world. I know there is no forgiveness and mercy for what I did, and as much as I would want to change everything if I could, I can't let this world and Edolas suffer for my sins,” Sasuke solemnly said with grim resolution and accused, “If I don't take responsibility for the monster I made, if I don't seal you away again, you would simply cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi once more and finish what you started.”

Naruto's face scrunched up in an even more furious expression and with a finger pointed at Sasuke, snarled, “Okay, first off, you don't know that. Second, even if I did…that's still better than what you lot are doing to yourselves.”

“Is it? Really? Because this is what I think. I think you are behaving like a brat who is having a temper tantrum, lashing out at everyone and everything because you can't deal with your anger. Yes, I wronged you gravely, but burning Konoha down for my sins? Turning half of Edolas into a godforsaken wasteland and sucking all the magic out the planet and its people? Stripping humanity of free will? That is going too far, Naruto. The world did not deserve any of that!” Sasuke retorted.

“You and your inflated sense of self-importance,” Naruto snorted and elaborated, “This is so not about you. You are just a part of my hatred. I wiped Konoha off the map because they branded me a rapist and a murderer before burning me alive for a crime I did not commit – a crime YOU framed me for! Raining fire and brimstone on the world, on _her_ 'nursery'…” and with a clenched fist revealed, “…that was my revenge against the Rabbit Goddess!”

“Revenge against Kaguya?” Sasuke asked, confused by what Naruto said. Just what qualm did he have with the despotic Rabbit Goddess who ruled Edolas with an iron fist?

“You didn't know? Figured Hagoromo and Hamura would have told you, seeing how the Rabbit Bitch's spawn helped you and your brats to seal me away. Guess they kept you of the loop then,” Naruto shrugged, “In that case, let me fill you in on the blanks before I kill you.”

Naruto regaled his story, “As you know, my execution was not the end of me. During my time in the veil that separates the dead from the living, I awakened the power that lay dormant within me. Upon my return to the world of the living, I secluded myself from society to learn how to harness my newfound strength. I knew of the potential my power held and that I had only scraped the tip of the iceberg. But that power-hungry Rabbit Bitch realized this as well and desired to take my magic for herself. She appeared before me and captured me – I didn't stand a chance back then and was overwhelmed,” vividly remembering the encounter.

“So your saying that all the destruction you left in your wake, was because Kaguya stole part of your magic? You're telling me that the reason so many innocent people died, was because you were throwing a tantrum over some petty grudge?!” Sasuke asked incredulously.

“You think my revenge was just over a mere siphoning of my magic? Stop jumping to conclusions you imbecile!” Naruto contemptuously hissed, “She did not just steal my magic – she sealed me inside of herself so she use my magic as if it were her own! I returned from the veil that separates the dead from the living, only to be bereft of my freedom once more and end up being used as a cheap magic battery,” and with a raised voice, finished, “I spent thirty years crammed into that dark cage…alone…and afraid, because of her!”

He took a deep breath before continuing, “While I suffered in silence, my power grew until I gained enough strength to break out of my prison and the rest is history. I wiped Konoha off the map and I took my revenge on Kaguya by destroying what she cared about most before I created the moon to serve as her eternal prison, so that she could suffer the fate she had intended for me, forced to always oversee her beloved nursery lay in ruins.”

“It was not just your betrayal that shaped me into who I am. I was once an innocent and kind child, something my 'loving' mother has done her utmost best to rectify until she threw me away and left me to die because she deemed it a hopeless task. I ran away and after some time, I got swallowed up by an Anima, into Edolas, back in time, in an era of endless fighting. Everywhere I looked, I could only see people doing their worst. And then…I took you in and we eventually settled in Konoha. I started to believe that there were good things in the world, that there was value in bonds, in friendship, in family. But you proved me wrong and it took being burned to ashes because of your treachery to realize that,” Naruto said bitterly.

A guilty expression flashed over Sasuke's face because of Naruto's words, which reminded him of the selfish reason he betrayed his big brother. With self-loathing, he confessed, “I was a selfish fool. All I could think about was winning Sakura's love. I couldn't stand her ignoring my love while only having eyes for you, so I removed you from the picture. I convinced myself that sending you to prison was worth her love, but then you were sentenced to death, and I was too scared to come clean. Not much later, Sakura and I were dating and before I knew it, I was happily married to the girl of my dreams and blessed with two healthy sons. In my happiness, I pushed aside the guilt I felt for my role in your death.”

Naruto watched impassively and Sasuke took a deep breath before continuing, “But then the past came back to haunt me when you made you came back from the grave. When I saw the village I came to call home reduced to ashes and the destruction you caused, I felt responsible for all of it, because I believed it was my fault you became the monster we came to call the Devil, the Ten-Tails. And so I took it upon me to take responsibility for my mistakes. Using the residual magic from the ashes of your burned corpse, I devised a way to harness your magic against you.”

Naruto scowled at the mention of his ashes. His original body was different from the others since it was formed biologically rather than through his magic. When he was burned alive, his ashes retained a fragment of his unique magic, the magic that was for all intents and purposes stolen from him and used to seal him away. Hagoromo, Hamura, Sasuke and his sons, Obito and Shisui, had escaped his Infinite Tsukuyomi thanks to the ashes and fought against him. He had been a fool to assume Kaguya's children were the real threat and so he underestimated his former brother and his brats. Despite having killed Hagoromo and Hamura and taking Sasuke's left arm, Obito and Shisui managed to place their father's Enochian seal – reinforced by his own magic – on him.

“And so you locked me away with my magic sealed,” Naruto angrily growled out, “Your seal has caused me so much suffering and you stripped me of my freedom once more. I had to commit suicide by goading my prison wardens in order to 'escape'. My first death and resurrection was by no means pleasant, but with my magic sealed…” and he trembled in anger as he continued, his voice raised, “…do you have any idea how painful that is? I suffered while you lived out your perfect, little life with the family you got at my expense and now you want to seal me away…AGAIN?! Haven't I suffered enough?!”

“Life was not perfect after we sealed you away and ended the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The people who had survived your nightmare lost the ability to use magic, me and my children being the sole exceptions. We tried to pick up our lives, but the people were desperate to get back the magic they lost, and so they tried to capture us in the hope of discovering a way to regain the ability to cast magic. We were constantly on the run, and eventually, my sons were captured by the feudal lord's men. They experimented on them like guinea pigs. By the time I managed to…free my sons, Obito was already dead and Shisui was blind because of the experiments…” Sasuke reminisced regretfully, a few tears rolling down his face.

“Losing my son and seeing my other son handicapped…it made the guilt that already haunted me even more overwhelming. I could no longer keep the truth to myself. I confessed my sins to my wife and son. They didn't take it well…blamed me for driving you into the madness that ruined our lives along with that of so many others. And so the family I got from betraying you, fell apart. My wife and son left me. I deserved that much, and probably more. The only thing I had left, was my self-appointed duty to prevent what I considered my mistake, to cause any more suffering. I placed myself into a stasis, standing vigil in case the seal failed or broke, and now we're here,” Sasuke finishing his tale of sorrow and regret.

Before Sasuke got the chance to do so much as anything, Naruto already had one of his shadow hoist his arch-nemesis up by his neck, making it look as if an invisible force picked him up. He walked up to Sasuke as he prepared to take his ashes back.

“You won't be doing anything, Sasuke. You've already done more than enough,” Naruto coldly stated, “You…are a cockroach – the kind that will always be a thorn in my side. I should have known you would go this far just try and pull a stunt like this. My former brother in all but blood using my miserable excuse of a biological brother to catch me off guard. It doesn't get any more ironic than that. At the very least I finally get the satisfaction of killing you. It’s a small compensation, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“But first, I'm taking back what's rightfully mine…” he said and brought his hand up to Sasuke's chest.

Seeing what might be his only chance, Sasuke's arm shot out in one last attempt to apply the seal to Naruto, but the blonde was vigilant and grabbed his wrist.

“Not again. Not EVER again!” Naruto snarled, “I'd die a million times…and murder you a million more before being sealed again!”

With the slightest jerk of his hand, he broke Sasuke's wrist, prompting a pained cry from him, and began to rapidly absorb his ashes – which had been applied like some kind of tattoo – straight out of Sasuke's skin. He noted that there was less to absorb than he had expected, _'Is this all there is? He must have exhausted the rest then…'_

Naruto let go off Sasuke and let him fall to the ground. The aged Uchiha felt so weak that he could barely prevent himself from collapsing on the ground. Sitting on his knees and clutching to his makeshift-cane, he looked up to meet Naruto's eyes and felt his age catching up with him.

“It's over,” Naruto said, determined to close this chapter of his life for once and for all, “Last words?”

Sasuke's face settled into one of remorse and apologized, “For what it's worth, I'm so sorry…for everything.”

“I don't need your apology after everything you did to me. What I need is you dead,” Naruto snarled, “I really should use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal **(2)** to devour your soul and lock your soul up forever, but the thought of doing so disgusts me to no end. No, I'll see you scatter like dust in the wind instead! Goodbye, _brother_.”

Naruto created a transparent, white cubical structure, with a sphere located at its center, between the palms of his hands. **Particle Style: Detachment of the Primitive World Jutsu** , he fired the structure at Sasuke and it expanded in size, trapping the aged Uchiha inside its confines. The sphere exploded with tremendous force, yet the blast radius was restricted within the walls of the cubical structure. The result was immediate: Sasuke was gone, pulverized into minute particles of dust.

He stared at the spot Sasuke had occupied before his expression settled into one of satisfaction. Dusting his hands in a satisfied manner, he commented to himself, “And another one bites the dust,” and broke out in triumphant laughter. Once his laughing fit was over, he deactivated the curse seal markings which bound Menma.

Menma fell to his knees and gasped for breath after regaining his motor functions and looked around him. Where was the human who attacked Naruto? He could swear he was here a moment ago before Naruto hit him with that magic sphere of his. With labored breaths he asked, “What happened? Where's the human?”

“Hmm? You mean Sasuke,” Naruto remarked with casual indifference and a disturbing smirk, “You actually missed the best part; turned him into dust, like literally.”

Menma trembled with anger. _'That was supposed to be MY kill!'_

Naruto raised an eyebrow and told his angry brother in a pseudo-mocking manner, “What's with the angry face? You should be cheering. I mean, I killed him AND he did try to use you – as mind-boggling it is that anyone would want to use YOU – to do his dirty work,” with a finger pointing at Menma when he said 'you'

Naruto casually mused, “Anyway, I believe it's your turn now. The question is, how am I going to dispose of you? You see, the challenge of being me is choosing which spells to use to destroy my enemies. It gets boring using the same ones all the time. Variety is the spice of destruction, after all,” showing a morbid sense of humor and adopting a thoughtful expression as he considered how he was going to kill his miserable excuse of a brother. The casual way he said this sent chills down Menma's spine.

A wicked grin appeared on Naruto's face and Menma was about to say something, but suddenly the world around him shifted and he found himself back home and on his knees before his mother, who looked at him impassively as she always did, but he could tell she was disappointed with him.

“Get up, you pathetic child,” Kushina frostily ordered her son, her tone laced with disgust, “You have shamed me for the last time with your constant failures. The mere sight of you disgusts me.”

The words died in Menma's throat, unable to say anything, too shell-shocked by the appearance of his mother and being condemning by her.

“I have tolerated this for far too long. No child of mine will be a failure who can't push past the boundaries that separates humans and gods. I will not accept such a mishap to be associated with me, let alone call it my child – a disappointment like you is unworthy of that privilege,” Kushina continued to coldly tear into him.

“M-Mother…?!” Menma stammered, profusely sweating under his mother's ice-cold gaze.

“Do not call me that. You are no child of mine,” Kushina said with loathing and narrowed eyes and raised her hand, calling upon her wind magic to pull all air out of her weakling of a child's lungs while simultaneously preventing him from breathing in air, asphyxiating him. The result was instantaneous: Menma found himself unable to breath and desperately struggling for air.

Menma panted for breath when his mother let up before pleading, “Why? I did…everything you wanted!”

“Because you are a pathetic weakling – a slave to your emotions. Giving birth to you is my greatest regret. That I even need to tell you this further demonstrates your incompetence and that requires punishment,” was his mother's heartless response before she conjured water and forced it into her denounced son's lungs.

Menma was powerless to do anything as he was drowning. Turning his body into earth or sand would not earn him any reprieve from his mother. He felt his lungs fill up with water and his vision go black before his mother would let up and repeat.

When Kushina finally had enough of almost drowning him over and over, she said, “Leave this place, Menma. From this day on, you are never to show your face here again. If you are not gone when I return, I will personally end you.”

“NO! I'm not a weakling!” Menma yelled. This could not be happening to him! This was his worst fear come true. This was the very reason he was so determined to kill his older brother – the same one his mother had always spoken so badly about. The way she always spoke about Naruto, how she looked at him every time he lost another spar against Mito and how his family often made stray comments about him being weak because of that…it drove his need to assert his strength to obsessive levels.

“Enough!”

He did not get the chance to say anything else before he had to cover his eyes as blinding, golden light exploded from Kushina. When the light disappeared he saw his mother standing in all her divine, yet terrifying glory. His mother stood there in her goddess form, garbed in wide-sleeved, black Hanfu empress robes with golden trimmings and golden floral patterns along the edges of the sleeves, lapels and sash. His mother always looked regal like a queen, but her transformation enhanced the sense of royalty she exuded to even further heights, something which was complemented by the increase in every aspect of her beauty that her transformation granted her.

But that was not what drew his attention; it was the sheer power she emitted. A golden aura covered her in its radiant glow as if she possessed so much power that it could not be contained inside of her body and her presence was so heavy that he instinctively felt the submissive urge to kneel down before his goddess mother. Her vulcan-sized height and the way her fiercely-glowing golden eyes bore into his made her all the more intimidating.

“ **You would disobey me? You would go against my word?”** Kushina said. Her divine voice resonated, having gained an ethereal reverberation to it.

“No, I'd…I-I'd never do that on purpose! Forgive me outburst! Mother, please! Please let me prove I'm not weak!” Menma begged, kneeling before his mother.

“ **Silence! Begging is for the weak,”** Kushina snapped harshly and her condescending voice boomed throughout the room, “ **I am not your mother, I'm your goddess! Any chances are wasted on you. I deem you beyond hope!”**

That did it for Menma. The finality in her judgement made something snap inside of him and he frantically yelled, “I'M NOT WEAK! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!”

Kushina pointed her index finger at Menma and fired a concentrated bolt of golden energy straight through Menma's chest, leaving a gaping hole behind. The last thing he saw before everything went black, was seeing his mother turn around and walk away, leaving him to die.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was back where he fought…Naruto? Said blonde looked at him from the rock he was sitting on and commented, “I was starting to wonder how long it'd take for you to wake up,”

“Ugh…what? Where's Mother?” Menma groggily asked, clearly confused by the sudden changes in scenarios.

Naruto frowned and asked, boggled that his stupid little brother would still considers their egg donor his mother, “You still call her call her 'Mother'? Even after that?”

“After that? Wait, how the hell would you know what happened when Mother brought me to the castle?” Menma demanded.

Naruto rolled his eyes and dryly said, “You weren't zapped over anywhere.”

Naruto almost had to laugh at Menma's shocked face and could barely restrain himself when his brother furiously said, “You…you bastard! That was your doing! It was just an illusion! I should have known that Mother would never banish me because unlike you, I'm not a failure!”

Naruto burst out in wild laughter at his brother's angry outburst, much to his confusion as he asked, “What's so funny?! Why are you laughing?!”

Still laughing, Narto answered, “Guilty as charged, it was indeed an illusion. But hearing you go on like about how you are not a failure and how Kushina would never banish you…that's priceless!”

Calming himself down, Naruto told Menma with smile on his face that showed immense amusement along with a wicked edge to it, “I mean, let's face it, Menma. You are a maggot inside a worm's ass. For the life of me I can't possibly imagine a bigger failure of a brother than you are. You are obsessed with your need to show this so-called strength of yours. And the best part? You are anything but! You, foolish little brother, are WEAK. Or did you and your peanut-sized brain already forget that I effortlessly kicked your butt all over the place TWICE? And a little bird told me that you could never win against Mito as well. But hey, if you want to be a desperate idiot and believe your mommy is proud of you, be my guest.”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I AM NOT WEAK! I HATE IT WHEN YOU, MY SISTERS, OR MOTHER CALL ME WEAK! I WON'T BE BANISHED FOR BEING WEAK! I WILL NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN, EVEN IF NEED TO KILL YOU, MITO AND NATSUKO TO PROVE TO MOTHER THAT I'M NOT WEAK LIKE YOU!” Menma raged out loud, the madness in his eyes clear as day.

Naruto shook his head before throwing some more oil on the fire that was Menma's state of mind, “You really are one hell of a mess. What I showed you, was a slightly altered version of how your so-called mother threw me away when I was just a ten-year-old child. Kushina Uzumaki would throw away and slay her flesh and blood at a moment's notice and you are no exception! You know this to be true, that's why you are so obsessed with trying to kill me. You've know how heartless she is, so you deluded yourself into thinking you get into the safe zone by earning her approval. Newsflash: it's never gonna happen.”

Menma clutched his head, all the while frantically repeating “no” and “that's not true” as he tried to deny Naruto's words as if it was his lifeline.

“Search your soul, you know it to be true. What I showed you was just what awaited you at the end of the line, if you didn't plunge into madness by then,” Naruto said, his demeanor suddenly turning ice-cold to the point it scared Menma, and stood up, shaking his head as he did so, “Alas, it doesn't matter anymore. I did not kill you the last time you tried to kill me because I thought it was funny to let you wallow in the humiliation you felt because of your defeat at my hands, but by trying to kill me again, you have sealed your fate.”

Menma's looked in fear as Naruto materialized a glowing red sword in his hand and slowly inched closer to him. With each step the blonde took, his heartbeat would drum harder as his panic increased. He tried to run away – unable to travel through the earth as he was feeling the effects of having almost all of his magic sucked out. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him and after a minute of running he looked back to see how far Naruto was behind. Looking back in front of him, he suddenly came face to face with Naruto's red eyes and was grabbed by his head.

“No! Stay away from me! I don't want to die! No! NOOOOO!--” Menma yelled in terror.

“Be quiet and at least die with some dignity,” Naruto said and ripped Menma's head off, his terrified expression still visible.

Looking up to the sky, as if expecting someone to hear him, Naruto shouted out with Menma's severed head held high, “Do you see this Mother? I purged the weak from our family, just like you taught me! Are you proud of your monster son?! Is this what you wanted from me?!” and opened a portal which he threw Menma's head through along with his sword following right behind.

************* Line Break *************

Violet eyes shot open wide when she felt blood splatter on her face, originating from her third child's decapitated head which came flying out of a black portal and was pinned to the wall right beside her head by a glowing red sword.

 _'My firstborn rendered half a planet to a wasteland…? My son who could not even hurt a fly, killed millions of mortals? Is this…how deep your hatred for me runs?'_ Kushina thought in absolute bewilderment. The stoic red-haired goddess was not easily shocked, but this was one of the rare instances where that was the case.

Of course her son was no longer the same gentle, but weak child that she loathed. She knew her eldest was angry with her about being thrown out, something their arguments made quite clear. Despite that, she firmly believed he would see reason in due time, admit the righteousness behind her actions and plead for her forgiveness of his petulance – if need be with a disciplinary helping hand from her. Up until now, she had believed that it was his desire and need for her approval along with the struggle to survive that had prompted him to become strong and break ties with his humanity. But now she realized that was not the case at all. Her eldest was driven by hatred…sheer hatred for her!

It was not the magnitude of her sons' actions that shocked her. If anything, she would have approved of the way he punished the mortals **(3)** of Edolas who had crossed him. He dispensed judgement with divine wrath just like she would have done – the fact that his actions gained him a cult only attested to that.

It was not the brutal way in which he killed her other son that shocked her. Her youngest son rebelled against her judgement of Naruto by trying to kill his brother. She felt disappointed at how Menma defied her word and allowed himself to be guided by human emotions. She did not fault Naruto for killing his brother though – she would punish anyone, even her own children, with death should they bare their arms at her with intent to kill. She expected the same of her children and her eldest had once more done as she would have done, therefore meeting her expectations – responding any different would have been weakness.

She would have been pleased in counting yet more similarities between her firstborn and herself, but any satisfaction on her part was overshadowed by the realization that his actions were also a measure of his hatred for her, or rather, of how much he hated being so similar to her. The more she thought about it, the more obvious it became that this was the truth behind his anger. He could not move past blaming her for his misfortunes in life and that blinded him to seeing the splendor in what he had become and embracing it!

She could in all honestly feel nothing but immense satisfaction in the fact that her son had become so much like herself, yet he hated himself and her for it – he even considered himself a monster for it! It was something that she just could not wrap her head around. It made her doubt for the briefest of moments if she was mistaken if the way she raised him and tried to change his nature was right, but she squelched that thought as quickly as it came – she was a goddess, and as a goddess, her divine wisdom was beyond questioning.

She realized that if she left things to fester, her son's hatred would bring him to ruin as well and tonight had driven home just how swiftly that could happen. She did not intend to see his potential squandered like his brother did and thus a plan formed in her mind, a plan that would prevent this from coming to pass.

Mito was lost in her own world, shocked by the revelations of Naruto's past. Everything made sense now. She was not scared of her older brother because of the cold anger and hatred he had demonstrated – she was afraid FOR him because of that. Him being so full of rage…it felt wrong! She also felt a stinging feeling in her chest…one of regret. Maybe if she hadn't taunted Menma so often after winning their spars…maybe little brother wouldn't have been so obsessed that he got himself killed by trying to kill Naruto. Even so, that guilt paled in comparison to the increased urgency she felt to seek her brother out and make amends.

 _'Naruto-kun…please don't lose yourself. I don't think I could bear seeing that,'_ Mito prayed in her mind.

Natsuko was another matter. She was actually clapping and cheering for her brother – something which was lost on her mother and sister who were too shocked to notice. She did not care about the humans her boyfriend had killed – they deserved it for what they did to him and it was nothing more than him exacting justice! Especially that old human deserved what he got! Oh, how she would have tortured him with the waters of the Acheron for having caused her Foxy-kun so much pain! And Menma…she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him – he had not endeared herself to her and he should have known he could not have won.

When Kushina regained her bearings, she quickly moved past her daughters – paying them no mind – as she made way to her study to put her plan into motion.

 _'I will not see you bring yourself to ruin as well, Naruto. You will see things my way. I'll make sure of that,'_ the red-haired goddess resolved.

**End of Chapter**

**======================================================================**

_**A/N:** _

_**And there you have it: two deaths in one chapter. Next up is Tenrou Island!** _

_**About Sasuke's Satan's Blaze, it's not God Magic by the way. I got the idea from Code Breaker.** _

_**(1) This spell is the same jutsu Baki from Suna uses.** _

_**(2) Naruto's usage of the technique would not involve summoning the Shinigami; he would instead burst a spirit arm from his chest to rip the target's soul out or pull it out by the hands before devouring the soul himself. His loathing of Sasuke is such though that the thought of imprisoning Sasuke's soul within himself disgusts him to no end and so he did not use this spell.** _

_**(3) Kushina is assuming that Kaguya is not a goddess and that 'Rabbit Goddess' is just a title.** _

_**Check out my profile page for the latest status updates on my stories and other announcements.** _


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**As usual, my thanks to npcfan for his help. :)** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

The flight back to Kushina's island had been an uneventful one. Rather than teleporting back, Naruto took his sweet time flying back instead. After all, he was in no hurry and it helped clear after the events of today. Killing Sasuke felt good, really good…for about ten minutes. His mood quickly soured when the euphoric feeling of having avenged himself left him. The bastard's nerve to try seal him up again and it completely wrecked his mood.

By the time he finally arrived at the castle gate, it was already midnight. He made a beeline for his room and immediately dropped into bed. A short fifteen minutes later he was already sleeping like a rock. He never noticed his mother silently enter the room with a vial of golden liquid in her hand…

************* Line Break *************

The next day, Naruto was taking a walk through the castle's vast gardens. It was a cross between a medieval and oriental castle garden, created by Kushina's very own hand, or rather, magic. The plants, trees and decorations were carefully arranged to create a beautiful, tranquil scenery that was both natural and sophisticated.

Right now, Naruto's attention was drawn by a large in the fountain before him. The statue depicted Kushina's children – and that woman seemed to think that included him as well – standing at the corners of the statue with Kushina standing in the middle in all her 'glory'. As her ego would naturally dictate, the sculpture of Kushina rose above that of the others.

“Naruto!/Foxy-kun!” he heard his sisters call, who walked up to him, or in Natsuko's case, ran up to him.

Naruto greeted Natsuko with a soft smile, “Tsuko-chan,” and curtly acknowledged Mito's presence, “Mito,” before asking, “What do you want?”

“I need to talk to you,” Mito answered.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Naruto bluntly told her.

Mito felt hurt at Naruto's blunt refusal to even talk to her and she felt tears threatening to well up in the corners of her eyes, but Natsuko came to her defense before she could say anything.

“Naruto! Don't be so mean!” Natsuko chastised her brother.

“Hn,” Naruto grunted with his arms crossed over each other.

“I brought ramen for you, but I guess I'll have to eat it myself if you're going to be mean,” Natsuko said with false sadness.

“You wouldn't…” Naruto frowned at the blatant attempt to blackmail him.

“Oh I would,” Natsuko said in a sing-song voice, “It's roast beef ramen.”

“Ugh, fine,” Naruto conceded with an exasperated sigh, “I suppose I can hear her out.”

“Great!” Natsuko smiled before giving her siblings some space.

Naruto turned back to Mito, “Alright, what is it you need to talk about to me?”

“I want to tell you I'm sorry,” Mito told him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, “You're sorry for what?”

“For everything. I'm sorry for forcing my will on you because I only cared about myself. I'm sorry for trampling over your feelings because I was selfish. I'm sorry for trying to kill you in cold blood because of something so stupid,” Mito clarified in a soft voice.

“Why should I believe you?” Naruto skeptically asked.

“I know you think I'm a selfish bitch and that just telling you I'm sorry doesn't means much, but I regret everything I did from the bottom of my heart! I love you, damn it!” Mito cried in an abrupt outburst of emotion.

“I couldn't understand back then why you didn't want me. I thought that just being a goddess…that just my strength and looks was enough reason for you to return my affections. But then you shattered my worldview…and I felt the same pain I must have caused you when I thought you killed me and played around with me…just like I did to you when we met. And then I thought I would never see you or that rare bright smile of yours again, only to see you stayed for Natsuko. I didn't get why you would give your heart to my baby sister and not to me, and it hurt so, so much! But I know better now. It took a while, but I realized that you love her because she cares for you instead of being selfish like I was,” Mito explained with shame, hurt and tears in her eyes.

“I know we can't share what you and Natsuko share even though it's my heart's deepest desire…” Mito choked out before pleading, “…but please believe me when I say I've changed and that I want you to be happy instead of being full of anger and pain!”

Having said her piece, the proud redhead broke down into sobs – despite having been taught that crying is a sign of weakness – and latched onto Naruto, crying in his shoulder.

“I'm so, so sorry, Naruto-kun. Please…give me just one chance!” Mito sniffled between sobs.

Naruto was stunned by Mito's honesty. He watched as said redhead's emotions got the better of her as she broke down into sobs and held onto him like he was her lifeline. He couldn't sense any dishonesty from her – she was truly sorry and she does cares for him, for the right reasons this time. Damn his feeble heart, but the woman in his arms was not the same woman he had grown to detest.

He slowly wrapped his arms around his sister and held her close, prompting Mito to look up to meet his eyes, “Naruto?”

“I believe you,” Naruto whispered and gently brushed her cheek.

“Can we…start over?” Mito asked hopefully, “Is there still a chance you could love me, too?”

“I don't know if I can love you like that…” Naruto answered softly and Mito's expression turned downcast, “…but we can start over. Let's just take things slow and see where we'll end up.”

Mito's face lit up and tightened her embrace, “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

A small smile crept over Naruto's face. “It's okay. I was taking a stroll through the gardens, why don't you join me…sister?”

“I'd like that, brother,” Mito smiled.

The two let go of each and Natsuko walked up to them. “Sooo…are we good?” she asked.

Naruto and Mito looked at each and smiled before nodding. “Yeah, we're good,” Naruto confirmed before asking, “You're coming with us, Tsuko-chan?”

A watermelon smile broke out on the bluenette's face and she ran up to Naruto's side, “Of course!”

Naruto then realized he forgot something and sighed, “Ah shit, the ramen…it's cold and soggy by now.”

His sisters giggled and Mito offered, “Don't worry, I'll warm it up for you,” and Natsuko reassured him, “It's tsukemen.”

“Heh, thanks,” Naruto sheepishly said. With Mito on Naruto's left and Natsuko on his right, the trio took a stroll through Kushina's gardens and enjoyed each other's company.

************* Line Break *************

_**Lime start** _

Naruto woke up as he felt something warm and wet between his legs. He saw the bed covers moving up and down and saw it was his sister bobbing her head up and down on his penis when he pulled the covers over him. Natsuko noticed he had woken up and quickened her pace as she took his length even deeper in her throat, prompting Naruto to moan in pleasure. Natsuko soon felt his manhood twitching and knowing that her favorite drink was about to follow, thought, _'Yes Ruto-kun, give me more of your delicious milk!'_

“Natsuko, I'm--” was all the warning Naruto managed to give before he came and unleashed a large amount of semen right into Natsuko's waiting mouth. Like always, she did not let a single drop go to waste as she hungrily kept sucking his penis for more semen before letting go with an audible pop once the torrent subsided. She sat up and fixed Naruto with a sexy, seductive look as she licked the semen of her lips.

“Mmm, delicious. I can't get enough of your baby batter,” Natsuko purred, “And good morning, Lover.”

“Insatiable succubus…” Naruto mock-complained before bidding her good morning, “Good morning to you too.”

“Insatiable, am I? I know you like that for a fact, and that you love the way I wake you up,” Natsuko said with a saucy smirk and motioned towards her body with both hands as she added, “I mean, how you can say 'no' to this bod.”

“True, I do love the way you wake me up,” Naruto grinned. It was not uncommon for Natsuko to wake up before him, notice his morning wood and wake him up by giving him head.

“Off course you do, Foxy,” Natsuko giggled, “So, wanna go again?”

“Hell yes!” Naruto said and within moments the two found themselves in position sixty-nine.

_**Lime end** _

Half an hour later, Naruto and Natsuko lay next to each other, basking in the afterglow of another bout of morning sex. One of Kushina's servant dolls entered the room with breakfast: ramen for Naruto and rice, raw egg and natto for Natsuko along with tea. The doll served both of them tea and left. Naruto and his hands clapped together and took in the delectable sight of his breakfast: thick and creamy miso ramen topped with grated cheese. He picked up his chopsticks and eagerly began slurping up his meal. He took his first slurp of the unconventional ramen dish and shut his eyes as he savored the taste.

“Mmm. Creamy, salty and savory,” Naruto commented after swallowing, “It's delicious.”

“What?” Naruto asked when he heard Natsuko giggle.

“It's just adorable how you much you like the stuff,” Natsuko giggled.

“Can't help it,” Naruto casually responded.

Natsuko just smiled in response and the two of them continued with their breakfast and took a shower afterwards, together.

************* Line Break *************

Naruto was just taking it easy today, content to spend his time at the beachy island shores with his sisters. Natsuko had insisted both he and Mito came with her. The weather was just perfect. Off course that did mean that Kushina was in good spirits for some reason, since she controlled everything on and around the island through her magic. Her skill with the art of enchantment, conjuration and god magic was such that she did so with the slightest of gestures and mere thoughts. The landscape, the climate, the terra firma, everything in this place was bent to her will. Fortunately his pitiful excuse of a mother was too occupied with deciphering the tablet they had retrieved.

Regardless of Kushina's mood, he was having a good time as he swam around without a care in the world while Natsuko and Mito were having a friendly water fight between sisters splashing water after Natsuko teased Mito about something he didn't quite catch. It was right then that his senses – even reaching all the way to Fiore – alerted him to Grimoire Heart being on the move with all its members having gathered in one spot. Using the magic signatures of the Seven Kin of Purgatory members he had encountered before, it was easy to deduce that the large gathering of magic signatures belonged to the members of Grimoire Heart.

 _'Damn it, I gotta go or I'll end up missing the show'_ Naruto thought, _'Talk about bad timing…'_

Using the Fission Jutsu, Naruto literally split his body into two identical yet entirely independent duplicates of himself so that he could both stay here and head over to Tenrou Island at the same time. The technique did split his power in half, but it would not dispel like a clone would in the event of another magic surge. Besides, the drawback wasn't that bad considering his level of power.

Using magic to walk on water, Naruto sprinted over the water surface at neck-breaking speeds towards what he assumed to be Tenrou Island, leaving his 'other half' behind for his sisters.

************* Line Break *************

Despite the great distance was, it only took Naruto a couple of minutes to reach Tenrou Island at what he considered a 'decent' pace.

 _'So this is Tenrou Island…'_ Naruto thought, _'That's a pretty big tree. Not as big as my God Tree, but big nonetheless,'_ and wondered, _'Hmm? What's Fairy Tail doing here?'_ when he sensed the presence of Fairy Tail mages on the island before him.

The island stood alone in the middle of the sea, with no other isles visible in the surrounding area. The island was mildly small, rocky and steep, covered lush vegetation, both bright yellow and green. One side of the island looked particularly rocky, possessing large formations jutting outwards from the ground. One near the shore, protruding above the sea, and the other near the center of the island, overlooking it with waterfalls flowing down from it. On top of the second rocky formation was the most distinctive element of the island: a giant tree which emanated some strange, protective magic.

Naruto quickly made his way to the center of the island. He felt Grimoire Heart getting nearby the island, so he decided to sit down and wait to see what they were planning. Using wood style magic, he sprouted thick tree branches, each with a purple bud on top, inside of which was a Rinne Sharingan eye, all over the island to observe what was going on. He could see Grimoire Heart approaching in an airship while Fairy Tail seemed to be occupied with some kind of…trials?

Soon after, he noticed someone – a girl as far as he could tell – walk up to him from behind. Naruto did not bother to turn around, but could clearly feel that he was being scrutinized.

Not turning around, Naruto asked, “What do you want of me? Or are you just going to stare at my back all day?”

“How could you tell I'm here?” the girl asked, surprised that someone could perceive her since only those who bear the Fairy Tail mark are supposed to be able to do so.

“There's hardly anything I can't see or perceive. Feeling a thought project, albeit a unique one, trying to spy on me is child's play,” Naruto answered matter-of-factly, “Now, I ask again: what do you want of me?”

Casting her surprise aside, the girl answered Naruto's question, “I came here because I felt a powerful magical presence enter this island,” and asked, “What brings you here?”

Naruto turned around and blinked in surprise upon seeing the girl: long wavy, pastel yellow blonde hair with wing-like adornments around her ears, green eyes, peachy skin and a child-like build. This was the same girl that was encased in the Fairy Heart crystal!

“You…” Naruto said incredulously, pointing his finger at her, “You're the girl from the Fairy Heart crystal.”

It was the girl's turn to be surprised when Naruto said that. Her carefree expression immediately changed into a shocked. “Y-You know of Fairy Heart?! You're not after it, are you?” Mavis asked with worry.

“Makarov showed me,” Naruto curtly answered, “And stop worrying already, will you? Eternity Magic is fine and dandy, but I have no use for a lacrima with your teenage body on full display.”

“Phew, okay,” the girl sighed and said, “But why would Makarov show you Fairy Heart? You're not succeeding him as Fairy Tail's master. Fairy Heart is not something that should be unleashed on the world, ever. That's why it's top secret.”

“Should not be unleashed on the world? Where have I heard that one before…?” Naruto mumbled, recalling how that was Sasuke's grand reasoning for trying to use that detestable seal on him again, “And he showed it to me because asked for…help,” spitting the word 'help' out like it was the most disgusting thing he had ever eaten.

The girl noted the bitterness in Naruto's voice, which was palpable. She knew Makarov wouldn't reveal Fairy Heart without reason and it made her wonder what kind of problem warranted revealing their guild's greatest secret.

“So, what troubled you? If Makarov revealed Fairy Heart to you, it can't be your average, run of the mill problem; he would never do that if it wasn't serious enough,” she asked with genuine curiosity.

“I don't feel like telling you,” Naruto bluntly told her.

If his blunt tone bothered her, then she didn't show it. “It helps to talk about it!” she encouraged him instead, with a cheerful smile on her face.

“No,” Naruto refused.

“Come on!” the girl pouted.

“I said no.”

“But it will make you feel better!” the girl insisted.

The two of them kept this pattern of refusal/encouragement up for some time until Naruto sighed and asked, “You're not going to give up, are you?”

“Nope!” the girl confirmed in a chipper tone and extended her right hand, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! Mavis Vermillion, first master of Fairy Tail!”

Naruto blinked and cast a glance at the hand Mavis offered, caught off guard by the gesture and the likeliness between her behavior and that of Natsuko, prompting Mavis to cheerfully chime in, “Don't hesitate; I won't bite!”

“You…just remind me of someone,” Naruto said, slowly reaching out his hand, “I'm Naruto Uzumaki.”

“Uzumaki?!” Mavis blurted out in surprise, “You're related to the Golden Goddess Kushina?! That explains why your magic feels so powerful!”

The temperature suddenly dropped as Naruto sharply told her, “That egomaniac happens to be my egg donor, unfortunately. And I do not owe my power to _her_ – everything I have, everything I'm capable of, I owe to no one but myself!”

“Most people could only dream of being the child of a goddess, yet you seem to be angry about her being your mother.” Mavis asked, curious as to why Naruto's tone turned so angry and bitter at the subject of his mother.

Naruto almost growled as he told her, “That power-obsessed woman with delusions of grandeur is not my mother; she is the root cause behind all of my misfortunes. She has caused me nothing but pain before she threw me to the wolves, condemning me to a life of suffering just because I was a weakling to her. Hardly any reason to count myself lucky there.”

“You seem unhappy about who you are,” Mavis stated.

Naruto sarcastically responded, “I'm the byproduct of an inconceivable union between a monster and a man I don't I even know. Now why would I be happy about myself?”

“You're not your parents; you are your own person. Doesn't that count for anything? You don't look like a bad person to me,” Mavis pointed out.

Naruto let out a bitter chuckle, “Being me is not something to be proud of. Humankind made that very clear to me. The only reason people are not running away from me in fright is because they don't recognize me. People think of me as a monster…to the point that they sealed my magic in a way that just letting my magic flow through my being was torture. Fairy Heart was my ticket out – the means to break that cursed seal.”

“Well, Makarov wouldn't have let you use Fairy Heart if he didn't think you deserved a reprieve and seeing you, I think I can see why. I have a feeling you've already been punished enough for whatever you have done and besides, I believe everyone deserves a second chance,” Mavis said sincerely, drawing a surprised look from Naruto.

“Hn, naive brats…” Naruto mumbled after wiping his surprised expression of his face. These people where too naive, but then again, they haven't seen half the things he has seen.

Mavis added, “I don't think you're a bad person. You seem more like a lonely and misunderstood person and I'd like to think I'm a decent judge of character after all these years.”

“After all these years? You're just a kid in your early teens from the looks of it,” Naruto said matter-of-factly.

“Hey! Don't judge a book by its cover – I'm older than I look!” Mavis exclaimed indignantly.

It was at that moment that a red flare was sent out and multiple fights broke out over the island as Grimoire Heart had made their move and initiated an attack on Fairy Tail.

“It looks like Grimoire Heart just started a guild war against your guild. That Iron Dragon Slayer kid got banged up pretty bad. Might as well sit down and enjoy the show,” Naruto said nonchalantly before he conjured images of the ongoing fights from what he saw through the eyes on the tree branches he had created earlier so that Mavis could watch the fights as well. The girl was decent company he supposed, for a human thought projection.

“Fairy Tail will prevail. I have faith in that,” Mavis stated confidently.

“Only one way to find out,” Naruto said with a full mouth as he was munching on flavored rice chips he had snatched from the castle kitchens.

The two of them watched the guild war between Grimoire Heart and Fairy Tail play out. Their attention was quickly drawn when Makarov engaged Grimoire Heart by enlarging his body to gigantic proportions. After trying to smash the airship to pieces, Makarov threatened to use a spell Mavis identified as Fairy Law, that Grimoire Heart's master, Hades, got involved by countering it with his own variant before the two guild masters engaged each other in combat.

Mavis gasped, “Precht?!”

“You know him?” Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Precht was Fairy Tail's second master and my friend,” Mavis answered with a downcast expression.

 _'So this is Hades…'_ Naruto thought as he turned his attention back to Makarov and Precht, noticing that the rest of Grimoire Heart had stepped on the island and engaged Fairy Tail. After a short yet fierce battle, Makarov lay defeated and grievously wounded after being shot through his body with Bullet Magic.

“I can't believe he would do that,” Mavis said in a sad voice.

“You can't believe that your friend betrayed your guild?” Naruto inquired.

“The Precht I remember was a good man…” Mavis said, “…but now he has gone down a dark path. I just don't understand what drove him to abandon what we stood for.”

“He's just showing his true colors. Envy, greed, hate, the disregard for Life and the inability to understand others…that is the true nature of humanity,” Naruto told her.

“No. You're wrong,” Mavis denied.

Naruto turned to Mavis and asked in an offended tone, “What did you just say to me?”

“I said you're wrong about humanity,” Mavis repeated.

Naruto's expression hardened. This girl was denying the truths he had learned during his lifetime and it angered him. “Humans constantly fight each other and do anything for personal gain or even worse, for no reason at all!” he growled, “I was stranded in an era of constant warfare. You haven't seen what I have. Even now, things haven't really changed,” and gesturing towards the images which showed the fighting on the island, he finished saying, “If you ask me, they're all reruns.”

“Sure, people cheat and…destroy and disappoint. But they also give and create and they sing and dance and love. And above all, they never give up! But, you do!” Mavis retorted.

Naruto gritted his teeth, but did not respond and turned back to watch the fighting instead. Fairy Tail faced difficulty overcoming their foes. Naruto wasn't very impressed by the fights. The so-called lost magic these Seven Kin of Purgatory used was nothing new to him since Kushina's library was nothing if not extensive. Everything took a turn for the worse when this Azuma character used his Great Tree Arc to collapse the Tenrou Tree and drain Fairy Tail's magic power, only sparing his opponent, Erza, so he could still fight her.

“Hn, what a fool. Hubris can topple giants,” Naruto snorted, “Still, unless that girl defeats him, which I doubt, your guild will be finished.”

“She will win,” Mavis said.

“What makes you so sure?” Naruto asked.

“Because unwavering faith and resilient bonds will bring even miracles to your side. I believe in my guild and comrades,” Mavis answered with utmost conviction.

“Faith and bonds won't make them pull through. It's just a cruel joke, a fickle thing that lets you down the moment the going gets tough,” Naruto spoke bitterly after recalling how bonds and faith have only let him down and turned on him, averting Mavis' eyes all the while because of how her conviction in her words disturbed him.

“How can you even say that with a straight face when all that awaits you at the end is disappointment and betrayal?” Naruto asked, sounding like he needed to validate his beliefs by trying to disprove hers.

“Because they are my comrades,” Mavis answered as if it was that simple.

“You said that before, but what does that mean to you?” Naruto asked, growing more agitated by the moment.

“That's something you can only understand best with a comrade. I can show you if you're willing,” Mavis said, grasping his hand with hers, “Comrades isn't simply a word. Comrades are about heart. It's the unconditional trust in your partners. Please, feel free to lean on me…and I, too, will lean on you as well. There will be painful times…sad times. I'll be with you through thick and thin. You are never alone. The hopes we carry are matched by the number of stars twinkling in the night sky, the rustling of the wind on our bodies are premonitions for what's to come tomorrow. Now, let us take a stroll…to the melody from the song of the fairies…”

“You…you're offering…comradeship?!” Naruto stammered, stunned by the gesture.

“Off course!” Mavis smiled.

Naruto hesitated before he pulled his hand back, vehemently shook his head and rejected her offer, “No, I-I made that mistake before and it ended up with my brother in all but blood framing me for something I didn't do and me being burned alive for it! I won't go through that again!” much to Mavis' sadness.

An awkward silence filled the area and they turned their attention back to Erza's battle. “She's done for. It's over,” Naruto stated when Azuma cast Terra Clamare once more, only to be surprised when he saw the redhead push onward to Azuma, claiming that the strength of her guild is not in the 'individual', but in the 'sum' before delivering a decisive blow.

Everyone's power was returned to them with Erza's victory just like Azuma promised. Fairy Tail promptly went on to defeat their adversaries one by one. One group remained behind in the guild's camp to look after the injured while the other group went after Hades. Naruto's attention was mostly drawn to the battle between Hades and Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza and Wendy.

Despite their numerical advantage, perseverance, they were no match for the former Fairy Tail master. Just as Hades was about to kill Natsu, a blond-haired young man entered the fray. Naruto identified him as Makarov's grandson, Laxus Dreyar. He had to admit that in spite of being outmatched, that Natsu kid made an impressive comeback after eating Laxus' lightning. He almost found it funny how everyone was almost ready to celebrate when Hades' removed his limiter and frightened his opponents – who were left with no strength anymore – with his magic power before sending demons created from rocks after them and blowing up most of the ship's deck. Personally he found Hades' magic power rather pitiful, but it was not exactly fair to compare a human – or anyone for that matter – to himself.

It was good fortune that saved the Fairy Tail mages again and allowed them to defeat Hades. He noticed that Hades' magic power vanished because the source of his power, his 'heart', was destroyed while Fairy Tail's magic power was restored thanks to that Time Mage using Arc of Time to restore the Tenrou Tree.

“They won…” Naruto whispered, somewhat surprised.

“See? I told you they would pull through. That's what happens when you stand together and don't give up,” Mavis said with pride for her guild.

 _'Could she be right that it is because of these bonds that they defied the odds?'_ Naruto pondered. The group that confronted Hades did entrust those exceeds to deal with the ship's power source…and Gray's victory over Ultear likely spurred her to restore the Tenrou Tree. The idea that these people survived when the odds were against them because of their bonds caused an uncomfortable feeling to well up in his stomach and so he quickly squashed that train of thought, _'Ugh! What am I even thinking?!'_

“It's just good luck, nothing more, nothing less,” Naruto scowled, dismissing Fairy Tail's victory as luck and refusing to acknowledge the power of bonds.

Mavis frowned and rebuked his denial, “That's not true and you know it. You just don't want to admit it because it would invalidate your point of view.”

Naruto trembled as his anger grew. “Why are you even bothering trying to convert me to your ridiculous belief about bonds?!” Naruto angrily demanded.

“Because I want to help you. You have given up on others because your friends and family have hurt you and betrayed your love and friendship. The pain you try to hide under that cold shell, I can clearly see it in your eyes and I can hear it in your voice. I can tell that you have endured more than you are supposed. Even though you try to others away like you are doing now, your being desperately cries out for someone to help you, even though you would deny it. I'd never forgive myself if I ignored someone in need of help,” Mavis said sincerely.

Naruto didn't know what to say. When his shock wore off, the first thing that came out was “Just…go away. I don't need help.”

“If that's what you want. I can't help you if you don't want to be helped,” Mavis sighed and told him, “If you ever change your mind, you are always welcome here,” before leaving Naruto to himself.

Naruto stared at her as she walked away and whispered, “You can't help me…”

************* Line Break *************

Hades, or rather, Precht Gaebolg, lay sprawled on the ground between the wreckage that was the deck of his airship.

“Makarov…” Precht breathed out, “Finish me off.”

“I learned something very important from you. In return, I will overlook what you did this time,” Makarov said with his back turned to Precht and ordered, “Leave this island.”

“Such weakness…” Precht said, opening one eye slightly, “If you let me live, the next time I will surely crush your guild.”

“I lost to you,” Makarov said, “But my children beat you.”

“Not true. My heart was destroyed, and Tenrou Island gave the youngsters power. Without these coincidences, I would not have lost to your brats,” Precht denied.

“Why did you fall to darkness?” Makarov asked, wanting to know his former master's reasons for doing what he did.

“I told you, once. The true nature of magic is darkness. Miracles that are born in the darkness have come to be called 'magic'. After I retired, I wished to find the truth of this world by walking deep down the path of magic,” Precht answered, “This world, overflowing with too much magic, is a false world. The World of Great Magic is the true magic world! I wanted to see that world. And for that goal, I obtained all the keys I needed to resurrect Zeref.”

“Just a little more! I was so close! I was so close to reaching the Magic of One!” Precht lamented as he raised his right hand up as if trying to grasp something from the sky.

“Even if you find it, nothing will change,” Makarov said, surprising Precht, and continued while looking at the small sphere of light magic he made in the palm of his right hand, “If magic's true nature is darkness, so be it. And if it's light, that's fine, too.”

“Magic is alive! Its role changes with the times. It grows, along with us. Magic is anything you can think of. It can be felt in infinite ways…as light, as darkness, as red, or even as blue. It is living freely, together alongside Fairy Tail! I learned that all from _you_ ,” Makarov declared before leaving Precht to himself.

Precht closed his eyes as he let everything sink in, until he heard a disembodied voice chuckle and greet him, **“Hail, mighty Hades.”**

“Who is there?” Precht demanded, “Who?!”

“ **Don't you recognize me? You looked for me in the abyss,”** the mysterious voice hinted.

“It can't be…” Precht gasped, “…The One Magic?!”

“ **That's right…”** the voice confirmed with a blank tone, **“…but don't even think for a moment that you will be able to fulfill your ambitions.”**

“ **The true nature of magic is darkness, you say?”** the voice said coldly, **“Let me enlighten you. The true nature of magic…is hatred.”**

“Wha…what do you mean? Why do you reveal yourself to me?” Precht asked before demanding, “Answer me! Reveal your mysteries!”

The voice ignored Precht and continued, **“I recall you saying that when someone makes a 'true mistake', there is no experience to be gained because that person is left with no future. You sought to claim my power for whatever goals your tiny little mind concocted.** _ **That**_ **is your 'true mistake'. That’s why your future…is annulled.”**

A look of horror appeared on Precht's face and black portal opened above him, with a bone projectile shooting out of it and impaling him in the stomach **(1)**. His mouth was opened in a silent scream as his body deteriorated at a molecular level and crumbled into a pile of ash.

************* Line Break *************

“Huh, what's this magic power?” Naruto wondered as he suddenly felt immense magic power in the far distance, and it was heading towards the island. Much to his surprise, this power exceeded that of his sisters, but it did not feel human nor divine; its power actually felt somewhat like that of the Dragon Slayers he had indirectly seen today.

Now curious to see what this unfamiliar creature was, veins bulged as he focused the telescopic sight of his Byakugan in the direction of the incoming entity to see what kind of creature it was. What he saw was a…dragon? Its entire upper body was covered in black scales, which in turn were decorated by spiraling, light blue markings. Its chin, chest, stomach, and the inner parts of his tail, arms and thighs were gray and appeared rather smooth safe for the single scar that ran down its chest. Its eyes were white and beady, and its head was round and blunt with four large, elongated plates extending backward. Razor-sharp teeth filled its mouth and arrowhead-like protrusion was attached to its chin. Its large wings were feathery in appearance, akin to a bird and its tail ended in a stinger-like shape.

“A dragon? I thought they were extinct…except for Acnologia. I wonder why it has come here…” he mused before a grin appeared on his face as he felt oddly interested about seeing an actual dragon, “Ah, who cares? Never thought I'd get to see an actual living dragon. This ought to be interesting. Let's see if your bonds will save you from The Black Dragon of the Apocalypse.”

Before long, a loud roar heralded the Black Dragon's arrival and it crashed down near the mages of Fairy Tail, who were celebrating their victory against Grimoire Heart. He watched as the dragon began to wreak destruction in its wake. It seemed that the guild had enough common sense to flee the island instead of trying to engage the dragon. Despite his injuries, Makarov used Giant to grow to Acnologia's size and selflessly confronted the Black Dragon in an attempt to buy his guild enough time to escape, telling the legendary dragon that he would not let him go any further despite knowing he stood no chance of surviving. It didn't take long for the dragon to overpower Makarov. To his surprise, that pink-haired Dragon Slayer boy, Natsu, carried by his exceed partner, Happy, returned to fight the dragon and save their master, disobeying his final order with the rest of Fairy Tail not far behind.

 _'Fools, the whole lot of them,'_ Naruto frowned at the misguided display of bravery. This unexpected behavior confused him; this was not how people acted when faced with danger of this magnitude and it made him wonder, _'Why would they spit on their master's sacrifice and come back when they know it's a certain death sentence?'_

“HAPPY, NO!”

A loud scream snapped him out of his thoughts as Acnologia delivered a backhanded strike to the Dragon Slayer and exceed duo. The winged cat-like creature barely managed to throw the pink-haired youth out of harm's range, but was no so lucky himself and ended up being smacked away and crashing with a sickening crunch and mortally wounding the exceed.

 _'That's the first out of many,'_ Naruto thought at the exceed's impending death, shaking his head.

The rest of Fairy Tail caught up with Natsu and threw their strongest spells at Acnologia on said Dragon Slayer's furious roar and Erza's order. Despite giving it their all and having three Dragon Slayers on their side, they couldn't even scratch the dragon. The dragon ascended into the sky and prepared his Dragon's Roar.

 _'And now, only at the end, they finally understand,'_ Naruto thought when he saw that everyone realized that his was it. Looking to the right of the scene, he spotted Mavis watching the scene before closing her eyes and holding her hands together and he wondered, _'She doesn't seems worried. What is she planning?'_

It was then that he felt a something tug on him; one of the orbs he had given to Fairy Tail, was crushed by Makarov. _'Took him long enough…'_ he dryly thought before telepathically reaching out to Makarov, _“You called?”_

“ _We are under attack by The Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia. We are only moments away from being wiped along with our holy land. I know I ask much and I do not know if it's within your power, but I beg you, save my children!”_ Makarov desperately pleaded.

“ _Hn, I'm honor-bound to fulfill my end of the bargain, so I suppose you and your…children…will live to see another day,”_ Naruto answered with casual indifference.

Everyone closed and held each other's hands and promised to return home to Fairy Tail together before Acnologia fired his Dragon's Roar, leaving a massive explosion behind. To everyone shock, the Dragon's Roar was blocked by a set of huge tails. The tails trailed back to a ten-tailed fox about the same size as the Black Dragon himself. Everyone was equally amazed in light of the monster fox' entry.

 _ **'This beast blocked my Roar…'**_ Acnologia though as he stared at this beast that blocked his attack before diving down to assault this fox beast.

Naruto caught Acnologia's claw swipe and responded with a swipe of his own, leaving three large, bleeding cuts behind over the dragon's torso. Acnologia roared and reflexively kicked Naruto, who held his arms crossed to block the kick. The dragon only managed to push the fox back a little bit.

************* Line Break *************

Mavis was halfway casting Fairy Sphere when this dragon-sized, ten-tailed fox appeared out of nowhere.

 _'This obscene magic power…it feels very much like…'_ Mavis pondered as she felt the magic power emanating from the giant fox. Her eyes snapped open wide as she realized this magic felt similar to the peculiar magic she sensed earlier today.

“Naruto?!” she gasped, “Is that you?”

************* Line Break *************

“ **You wounded me…”** Acnologia said, speaking up for the first time since his arrival on Tenrou Island, **“Nobody has managed to wound except for** _ **her**_ **. Tell me your name so I may know who I'm about to slaughter.”**

“ **Slaughter me? You? I eat overgrown lizards like you for breakfast,”** Naruto condescendingly responded, amused by the dragon's overconfidence, **“You will know my name right before I scatter you across the winds.”**

Acnologia growled and raised his claw, causing a powerful explosion to detonate underneath Naruto, who made no move to avoid the attack. When the dust settled, Naruto stood there unscratched.

“ **That tickled. My turn…”** Naruto grumbled before raising his claw. Five elemental masses, respectively composed fire, water, earth, wind and lightning, came into existence over the palm of his claw, orbiting in a circular path and growing in size before settling in a circular formation behind his back.

Naruto roared. **Fire/Water/Earth/Wind/Lightning Dragon Bullet Jutsu** , he consecutively sent the elemental masses towards Acnologia in the shape of five giant dragons.

The Black Dragon swerved around the dragon-shaped projectiles, but quickly discovered that his opponent controlled their trajectories to home in on him, leaving him with no choice but to nullify the attacks. He positioned himself strategically so that the dragon projectiles and the fox were aligned and took a deep breath before firing his Dragon's Roar, making sure to put extra magic power behind his attack. The light blue beam of destruction clashed with the dragon projectiles and dispelled them quickly as his Roar went straight for the fox, who stood there with his arms crossed over each other and looking bored.

Naruto deflected the attack with a Tailed Beast Shockwave he created by lazily flicking one of his tails. **“Pitiful…”** Naruto scoffed. He gathered magic in his mouth, shaped it into a sphere, and consumed it. **Tailed Beast Ball** , he fired the energy in the form of a continuous beam which met Acnologia's Roar head-on and instantaneously overpowered the attack which could easily destroy Tenrou Island in one blow.

“ **!!”** Acnologia's reflexes kicked in and he quickly dashed out of the beam's path despite the strength of the Tailed Beast Ball taking him by surprise. Before he could do anything else, the fox flew towards him unaided and opened his close-range assault with a powerful headbutt, which the dragon returned. The physical force of the clash created a shock-wave that created violent tides in the sea beneath them and made everyone on the island hold on tight lest they were blown away.

Dragon and fox continued to exchange to blows. Each strike from the fox felt to Acnologia like his scales were being chipped away bit by bit. Acnologia fired another Roar, creating a large light blue explosion in the sky and took the opportunity to create some distance between the fox and him.

“ **Hahahah, HAHAHAH!!”** Acnologia laughed excitedly, **“This is great! I have not felt this excitement since I fought Goddess Kushina! This is the challenge I've been looking for!”**

Naruto narrowed his eyes. **“Do not mention that name around me,”** Naruto growled angrily before creating another Tailed Beast Ball and firing it at deceptively high speed in its regular sphere form. Acnologia barely managed to avoid being hit by the ominous energy ball by shifting his body to the side. The Tailed Beast Ball zoomed past him before detonating. The explosion was easily capable of vaporizing an entire island.

“ **The next one won't miss,”** Naruto coldly declared before inhaling deeply and firing a Dragon's Roar of his own, greatly shocking Acnologia.

 _ **'What?! That's my Dragon's Roar!'**_ Acnologia thought with disbelief written over his face. He quickly fired a Dragon's Roar of his own to counter and negate Naruto's, who had unbeknownst to him copied the spell when he saw him perform it upon his arrival.

Naruto did not let up and proceeded to assault Acnologia with more Dragon Roars, adding the Fire Dragon's Roar, Iron Dragon's Roar and Sky Dragon's Roar to the mix. The Black Dragon could only do his best to dodge and counter with his own Dragon Slayer Magic. Having had enough of this, Naruto punched the Acnologia in the face, briefly stunning him, and fired another Tailed Beast Ball, which hit the dragon straight in the chest and engulfed both of them in another great explosion.

************* Line Break *************

Everyone looked in awe at the clash between monsters which lit up the sky with repeated explosions. This mysterious fox casually fought the legendary Black Dragon blow for blow and even seemed to have the upper hand!

“Whoa! This is unreal! I think it's actually going to beat Acnologia!” Gray said in awe.

“That fox is definitely putting up a manly fight!” Elfman exclaimed in approval.

“What the? Did it just copy that monster's and our Dragon's Roars?!” Gajeel shouted in shock.

“Amazing…” Erza muttered and wondered out loud, “But I can't help but wonder why it saved us.”

“I don't care as long as it beats that bastard for what he did to Happy!” Natsu said before shouting on top of his lungs, “YOU HEAR ME, FURBALL?! BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THAT BAG OF SCALES!!”

Happy, who was being tended to by Wendy after the fox drew Acnologia's attention away from them, finally came by. Wendy tried to heal him, but his wounds were beyond her ability to heal; Acnologia's attack left him grievously wounded. Still, she refused to give up.

“Everyone, Happy woke up!” Carla shouted, drawing everyone's attention. Everyone went over to the wounded exceed, with Natsu being the first to scoot over to Happy.

“Hey, Happy. How are you feeling?” Natsu asked, worried for his friend.

“Na--” Happy began, but couldn't finish what he wanted to say because he started coughing up blood, “Natsu? It…hurts.”

“I'm here, buddy,” Natsu assured Happy, “You're gonna be fine. We're all going home and then we'll get you the biggest fish we can find!”

“I…” Wendy began, before bursting into tears, “…I don't think he's going to make it! I don't have enough magic left! The wounds…it's too much for me to heal! If only I could have healed him sooner!”

“What are you talking about? Off course he's going to make it! He has to!” Natsu fired back to Wendy, refusing to consider that even one of them would not come back home.

“Natsu…I know this is especially hard for you, but there's nothing we can do for him anymore,” Mirajane tried to explain calmly, “His wounds are too grievous for Wendy to heal in her current condition.”

Natsu just shook his head and turned back to happy, “No, I won't buy that! You're going to be okay, right Happy? You can't give up now!”

“Aye…sir…” Happy said between coughs before his breathing slowed down and stopped moving completely.

“Happy?” Natsu asked with tears welling up in his eyes. He tried to feel for Happy's pulse, but there was nothing. “No…” he began to weep, “Don't this to us! You can't just leave us like this!” and broke down into hysterical sobs and screamed, “HAPPY!!”

Everyone looked at the deceased exceed with tears. Even though it looked like they would survive this hopeless situation, the pain of losing one of their own would stay with them.

************* Line Break *************

Acnologia was panting haphazardly. He barely survived that last attack. He almost felt like the humans he looked down upon as insects. He had still not managed to even scratch this beast, while he looked like he had been put through the wringer – the majority of his body was burnt and singed.

“ **What's wrong, o great Acnologia? I'm starting to believe you're the only dragon left alive because you fled with your tail between your legs when the other dragons were slain,”** Naruto mocked the dragon and decided to add insult to injury when he saw the dragon growling, **“You're nothing but a jumped-up Dragon Slayer pretending to be Dragon King!”**

“ **I will make you eat those words,”** Acnologia snarled, **“I am the undisputed Dragon King!!”**  and bared his fangs at Naruto, charging at him as fast as he could.

 **Storm Style: Light Fang** , Naruto generated a sharp, thin stream of light from his mouth to cut Acnologia in half. He made a quick movement of his head to direct the stream that ran at the speed of light, but a sudden drop in his magic threw his aim off and he paid for it as well. His enemy managed to tear his right arm off, but not without cost: the left part of Acnologia's lower body, including his left leg and tail, had been cut off by the stream of light.

 _ **'Damn it, another surge,'**_ Naruto cursed, knowing he could have easily dodged or withstood Acnologia's attack, _**'No matter, I can easily regenerate my arm. But I will put this pest out of his misery first.'**_

Naruto grabbed Acnologia and smacked him miles away with overwhelming strength and used Amenotejikara to teleport behind the dragon by shifting his location.

“ **Take this to your grave,** _ **Dragon King**_ **,”** Naruto whispered before smacking Acnologia away with his tail and shouted, **“My name…is Naruto!”**

Naruto formed a Rasenshuriken: a large Rasengan with four large points around the core of the Rasengan, giving it the appearance of a fuma shuriken. The Rasenshuriken was proportionally sized to his Ten-Tails form and was infused with wind style magic. **Wind Style: Rasenshuriken** , he threw the Rasenshuriken at Acnologia. Upon contact with the dragon, it detonated in a vortex of countless microscopic wind blades, completely shredding the mighty dragon on a cellular level.

************* Line Break *************

Fairy Tail had returned to watching the fight that raged in the skies despite the tragedy that had just come to pass. The saw Acnologia tear off the fox' right arm while being grievously wounded himself and get batted far away from Tenrou Island by a swing of one of the fox' tails – in fact, the dragon was launched so far away he had disappeared from sight. The fox then disappeared as well and then, there was a white flash that could clearly be seen all the way from where they were standing.

“Did it…destroy him?” Freed wondered, awed by the blast of that last spell.

“As tough as that bastard is, I can't imagine even him surviving that,” Laxus commented.

“We're saved…” Lucy whispered in amazent.

Mirajane spoke up, voicing her worries, “I just hope it won't come after us next.”

“It's alright. He won't attack us,” Makarov said, earning himself everyone's attention.

“How do you know that, Master?” Erza asked.

“Because I summoned it,” Makarov answered, shocking everyone present, “A few months ago, I helped out a young man called Naruto and in return for my help with a problem he was facing, he granted our guild three boons…” and showed everyone the two remaining orbs Naruto had given him, “…which can be called in by crushing one of these crystal balls. In desperation, I used one boon and begged for him to help us and he did, although I did not expect it in the form of a dragon-sized fox.”

“Can he…can he make Happy better?” Natsu asked in a weak voice, causing everyone to stare at him as he had grown a second head. He was basically asking if Happy could be resurrected!

“You idiot! You can't resurrect the dead!” Gray reprimanded Natsu.

“But if this guy is so strong that he can beat that monster so easily, then maybe he can help Happy!” Natsu fired back, “Happy is our comrade, he's family! If there's a way we can help him, then we can't just turn our backs on him!”

“Natsu's right. We should at least try asking this Naruto. We got nothing to lose,” Erza chimed in.

Everyone voiced their agreement one by one. Makarov glanced at the deceased exceed's body and at the crystal orbs he was holding before coming to a decision. Convinced by everyone's arguments and determination, he crushed one of the orbs.

Within moments, the giant fox appeared and descended in front of them, its slitted crimson eye focused on them. Surprisingly, its right arm was already restored.

“ **Makarov,”** Naruto gruffly greeted, **“Calling in another favor already?”**

“I am,” Makarov confirmed and pointed to Happy's lifeless body as he began to formulate, “I want to ask you to-” before Natsu cut him off “We want you to bring Happy here back to life!”

Naruto turned to Natsu and frowned. **“You would have me break a taboo just to save a cat?”** he inquired, **“You're a human. Why would you care for anything besides yourself or your own kin at best?”**

“That doesn't matter! Human or not, he's my friend! He's part of our family and we don't turn our back on family,” Natsu shouted.

Naruto's narrowed eyes bore straight into Natsu's. Even though the pink-haired youth was sweating under his intimidating stare, the boy did not avoid his eyes and bravely stared him down. **“So be it,”** Naruto grumbled before shrinking down to the size of a normal fox, earning surprised looks from everyone.

Naruto made two hand seals with his paws, which still possessed thumbs. **Samsara of Heavenly Life Jutsu** , Happy's soul was recalled from the afterlife and shot into his body, briefly covering it in a blueish green aura. Happy's eyes abruptly shot open and he released a deep gasp. Naruto was left panting after finishing the spell and his fur had turned white – he was still feeling the effect of the surges in his magic from his battle with the dragon and this particular spell was quite draining in his current condition. At full strength he would not even break a sweat on a spell like this, even if he resurrected the people of an entire nation.

Everybody looked in wonder at the miracle this man performed. First he saved them from Acnologia and now he brought their friend back to life. Everyone moved over to Happy and Natsu cried, “Happy! Thank God, you're back!” with no small amount of joy.

“Thank God? Here I resurrect someone and they thank God instead of me,” Naruto grumbled under his breath, unheard to anyone besides Makarov.

“Don't hold it against them. They are just caught up in the moment. It's not every day that you see a miracle like this happen right before your eyes. What you just did means more to us than can be put into words,” Makarov told Naruto.

“I just fulfilled my end of the bargain. That's all,” Naruto stoically said.

“Perhaps it's just a bargain to you, but to them, it means more than you can imagine. Even though you were honor-bound to grant this boon as you put it, I still want to thank you on behalf of everyone here,” Makarov said gratefully.

“You're…welcome, I suppose,” Naruto replied, slightly uncomfortable at being thanked for anything.

“Well, if that would be all, I'll be heading my way,” Naruto said before he was interrupted by Natsu.

“Hey, wait up! I didn't even get to thank you yet!” Natsu shouted, who had grasped Naruto's paw and profusely shook it as he thanked Naruto over and over again.

“Err…you mind letting go?” Naruto asked, feeling slightly annoyed.

“Oh, hehe, sorry!” Natsu apologized.

“Okay, time for me to go. I've got better things to do,” Naruto said before taking off. A few minutes later, he felt the tug of being beckoned…again!

 _'They are seriously spending all of their three favors within the span of an hour?'_ Naruto wondered, _'Oh well, look at it from the bright side – at least my debt will be cleared quickly this way.'_

Naruto quickly teleported back, using the crushed orb as a marker. “Alright, what is it this time?” Naruto said bluntly before noticing he was not summoned by Makarov, “Kid, why did you summon me instead of your master?”

Natsu was about to answer before Naruto cut him off and dismissively waved his hand, “On second thought I don't care. Just tell me what you want so I can get this over with.”

Everybody was watching with angst at how Natsu was about probably to ask for something stupid when he summoned Naruto to grant the third and last boon he had granted their guild after having snatched the crystal orb when Makarov wasn't paying attention. Everybody wanted to protest, but it was too late: the fox had already arrived.

Natsu brought his finger to his chin and adopted an intensely thoughtful expression. “It would be cool if I could turn into a dragon…” he mused.

“You should ask him to create a never-ending supply of fish!” Happy said, putting his own two cents.

“Well, make a choice and hurry up, will you?” Naruto said impatiently, “Neither request would be hard for me to grant.”

_'Please don't ask something_

“Just kidding!” Natsu laughed and grinned excitedly with his fist pumped, “It's just, you were just so awesome back there when you beat the hell out of that bag scales! So I was thinking--”

“You need brains to think, Flame Brain!” Gray interrupted Natsu.

“Shut up, Popsickle Princess! At least I'm not a pervert who walks around without clothes!” Natsu heatedly fired back.

“I'm not a pervert!” Gray protested.

“Gray, your clothes…” Cana pointed out.

“Ahh!!” Gray panicked.

Naruto just sweat-dropped at the antics of these folks, before Natsu picked up where he left off.

“Uhm, oh yeah! As I was saying before Pervy Popsicle interrupted me, I was thinking it would be a blast if we had someone like you in Fairy Tail!”

Everyone including Naruto did a double-take at the implication of Natsu's words. “Don't tell me you're saying…you want me in your guild?” Naruto asked incredulously.

“Yep, that's what I'm saying, alright!” Natsu confirmed with a thumbs-up, “I want you to join Fairy Tail!”

Before anyone could say anything, the air felt oppressively thick with the cause being a trembling Naruto with his face shadowed by his hair. Naruto raised his head, revealing a livid expression that paralyzed everyone with fear. The fact that his eyes were glowing fiercely terrified everyone even more. He just got his freedom back a few months ago and now his honor is used against him to chain him down to this guild! This was not what he had in mind when he granted this guild three favors! “You damned brat!” Naruto spat, his furious gaze focused on Natsu, who looked like he had the crap scared out of him, “How dare you take advantage of my pact to grant with your guild to chain me down like this?!”

“Err…I…I…” Natsu stammered, “I didn't meant it like that!” and offered in a weak voice, “You don't have to join if you really don't wanna.”

If anything, Naruto looked even more angry and everyone thought the fox that had just destroyed Acnologia was about to kill Natsu on the spot. “My word is my honor and I have yet to go back on my word. Opting out is no option like you seem to think,” Naruto ground out.

“I should have my family destroy your guild so there is no guild for me to join…” Naruto continued, scaring everyone even more, “…but I'm not THAT underhanded.”

Everybody sighed in relief. They really thought for a second that Natsu's reckless request had almost caused the destruction of their guild.

Makarov chose this moment to speak apologized, “I'm sorry about Natsu's impulsive behavior, Naruto,” before trying to appease Naruto, “What's going to happen now? I don't want to you feel forced into this, but what's done is done. The only thing we can do now is to see how to make this as easy as possible on you.”

“I believe I may have a solution,” Mavis said, who had just made her presence known.

“First Master?” Makarov said, wanting to hear what she had in mind.

“Mavis,” Naruto curtly greeted before getting to business, “I'll bite, and by Me, I hope it doesn't bites me in the ass later. Speak.”

“I understand that you feel forced into joining our guild and that a change like this is too big and sudden for you. This island is associated with Fairy Tail, its 'holy land' if you will. You can stay here with me at Tenrou Island before you go to Magnolia Town. Think of it like this, right now you feel that your honor has been used against you, but you can also go with the flow and try to learn from this and try to have fun!” Mavis proposed with a smile.

“And how long until I have to move to the guild?” Naruto carefully asked.

“Until you feel ready. You can stay here as long as you need to! I told you before that I want to help you, not antagonize you,” Mavis chipperly answered.

Naruto gave Mavis a scrutinized stare. “Fine…I can live with that, I suppose,” he conceded grudgingly. He knew he could not completely avoid the situation without tarnishing his honor. This was the best he could make of it for now and truth be told, it could have been worse.

“One more thing,” Naruto said, remembering something.

“Hmm?”

“You said this island is Fairy Tail's holy ground, but can my sisters still visit me here?” Naruto asked softly. He did not want to leave Natsuko behind just like that; he had grown too attached to her. And while he did not share the same feelings with his other sister, he accepted her apologies and promised to genuinely start over. It would be cruel to give his sister a second chance only to just pack his things and leave. That was not his way of doing things; he had a sense of honor he abided by.

“That's fine,” Mavis answered.

Naruto acknowledged her answer with a nod, “Then I'll be going,” before he went on his way back.

Mavis waved him goodbye as he disappeared in the horizon, “Bye!”

“That could have gone worse,” Makarov sighed.

“Maybe. I would have preferred to see him choose to do this of his own free will over the way it happened. Still, this might help him out in the long run,” Mavis said.

“So you've seen it too,” Makarov stated.

“Yes,” Mavis confirmed, “He has been through much and lost his faith in others. Maybe this incident could be what he needs. My instinct tells me that there's a kind and good man hidden behind that bitter exterior and some Fairy Tail spirit might be able to bring out.”

“I agree,” Makarov nodded and bid Mavis farewell, “It's time we went back home – it's been a trying day. Until next time, First.”

Everyone went aboard the ship and set course back home, with Makarov giving Natsu a lecture about snatching things and making reckless wishes as they sailed towards Magnolia Town.

**End of Chapter**

**======================================================================**

_**A/N:** _

_**It took a while, but Fairy Tail finally showed up again and Naruto's favors are finally cashed in. And for those who haven't guessed it, yes, Naruto was the one who killed Precht (Hades) and yes, Naruto is The One Magic itself. That ought to explain the name of the story, eh?** _

_**On a side note, I've changed Natsuko's pet name to 'Tsuko-chan' after someone pointed out why 'Suko-chan' does not makes sense in terms of Japanese grammar. I will correct this in previous chapters soon as well.** _

_**(1) Precht was killed by an All-Killing Ash Bone.** _

_**Check out my profile page for the latest status updates on my stories and other announcements.** _


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_**Summary: Cast out by his mother for being weak, Naruto ends up in Edolas and is slung back thousand years into the past. He grew strong and now he's back. Now he wants justice and seeks to fill the hole in his heart. Powerful Naruto (handicapped at first, eventually OP), grey Naruto, Naruto x Natsuko x Mito.** _

_**Took a while to release another update. Life got in the way unfortunately; I’ve been very busy as of late. Also, I have revisited old chapters and rewrote them a bit to fix certain issues.** _

_**As usual, my thanks to npcfan for his help. :)** _

**======================================================================**

**Start of Chapter**

_'How did I get in this mess?'_

Naruto was annoyed. His day started out so well, especially with Kushina bothering him. Everything was going fine…until that Dragon Slayer brat completely messed his day up. Why didn't he just take the easy way out and stop caring about his word just this once, even if just for his own good? A promise was a fickle thing that could be used against you after all if you were not careful, that much was made abundantly clear today. Still, it was his fault as well; nobody could force him to make good on his word but himself. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he repeated the question to himself again: why did he even care about his word?

 _'Right…because I wouldn't stain my honor,'_ he reminded himself. It might have sound meaningless and ridiculous to others, but it did mean something to him. His honor was one of the few things that had been taken from him. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he barely noticed Mito sitting down next to him.

“What are you doing outside this late, Naruto-kun?”

“Just stargazing,” Naruto said, sounding somewhat absentminded.

“You like watching the stars?” Mito asked, trying to make some conversation.

“It's a habit of mine,” Naruto answered, still looking up to the night sky, “Watching the stars usually calms me down when I'm in bad spirits.”

“Because they make your problems look smaller?”

Naruto raised a brow and turned to look at Mito, “And when it doesn't it just means you got seriously big problems…but yes, that is exactly what I mean. You sound familiar with it…”

A small smile graced Mito's face. “You're not the only one who likes to watch the stars, Naruto-kun. I want for nothing and yet…from time to time I do feel lonely within the halls of Mother's castle. We are all we've got, we have no place in the human world. On moments like that I, too, watch the starry sky,” Mito told her brother.

“I see…” Naruto mused.

“Mind sharing what's on your mind?” Mito asked.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, “You remember when I left the castle with Natsuko's help to go to Fiore?”

Mito nodded carefully at the reminder of that particular day.

“After all those hours spent in the library, I was under the belief that there was something there that could help me break my seal,” Naruto began to explain.

Mito nodded, understanding what seal her brother was talking about, the one she learned about when she remotely watched his confrontation with that filthy human who orchestrated his execution.

“It turned out that a guild in Magnolia, Fairy Tail, had something which indeed proved to be the missing puzzle piece to breaking my seal, but the guild master wouldn't let me near it just like that because it was a secret.”

“Humans being stubborn as usual…nothing a death threat can't fix, right?” Mito half-joked.

“Works most of the time, but I didn't use force or threaten anyone this time,” Naruto said, surprising Mito.

“Then what did you do?” she asked.

“I negotiated,” Naruto sighed, “Three favors in return for what I wanted, three favors they called in today, the very reason I'm sitting here like this.”

Mito looked bewildered. She definitely did not expect that. “I don't get it. Why would you negotiate with humans if you could have just taken what you needed?”

“I would have, but I couldn't know for sure that whatever secret they were hiding would have been what I was looking for. I needed to save my strength in the event that I had gone there for nothing. You were hot on my tail, remember?” Naruto explained with a frown.

Mito winced at the reminder of her folly. It was her fault that her brother owed a debt to a bunch of humans. “You said they called in their favors. What did they want from you?” she asked.

“First I was summoned to save them from Acnologia. Soon after asked me to resurrect a fallen…comrade,” Naruto said.

“You can resurrect the dead? And you fought Acnologia? Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia?” Mito asked incredulously. She was powerful, but she was not capable of resurrection nor was she a match for the Black Dragon.

“Meh, child's play,” Naruto said casually, “The King of Lizards didn't last long before I ended him.”

Mito blinked a couple of times as she processed all of this. Remembering Naruto only mentioned two favors, she asked, “What of the third favor, though? I mean, the other's don't sound bad enough to bother you.”

Naruto closed his eyes as he thought of the last favor Fairy Tail cashed in, “That particular favor was cashed in by one of their apparently more impulsive members, a Fire Dragon Slayer, who was apparently in awe of me…”

“Can't blame anyone for that,” Mito smiled.

“Eh, right…but like I said, he was so impressed that he snatched last of the orbs I gave the guild master to summon me with,” Naruto continued.

“What did he ask for?” Mito asked with no small amount of curiosity.

“To join their guild,” Naruto grumbled, “

Mito snorted, “Hmph, thinking they bind an Uzumaki to themselves. Just shows how arrogant humans are. As if you'd join such a ragtag group, right Naruto-kun?”

“…” Naruto just stared in front of him. Mito felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach because of his lack of response.

“Naruto-kun?” Mito asked softly, “You're…you're not going, are you?”

“I am,” Naruto said, confirming what she was afraid of.

Mito's heart sank and her voice quivered as she spoke, “W-why would you do that? Don't tell me you're letting them walk over you like this!”

“It's not that simple…” Naruto tried to explain, “I gave my word that I would fulfill three favors – that was my side of the pact. You think I'm looking forward to this? I'm not happy about this in the slightest.”

“Then why?!” Mito demanded, clearly sounding and looking hurt, “Why would you follow through with something you don't want to do?! Why would you do that to yourself? To us? What about me and Natsuko?”

“I've never broken my word before, Mito. That's something I just can't do. And I'm not leaving you two behind…” Naruto said softly, putting his hand on hers, “…you can see me anytime you want.”

“But…”

“I know. It's…not perfect, but we'll have to endure for now.”

Mito looked down. “How dare they?” she whispered. She clenched her fist and a fiery aura suddenly came to life, as if someone flipped a switch, accompanied by a furious expression. “How dare those damned humans do this to us?!” she raged, “I'll burn them and their guild to ashes so there's nothing left to join!”

She jumped to her feet, intent on heading towards Magnolia Town right away were it not for Naruto grabbing her arm and stopping her.

“Mito!”

“Why are you stopping me, Naruto-kun?” Mito asked, not understanding her brother, “I can fix this. You're in this situation because of me. I have to fix this!”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Naruto asked, clearly confused.

“You made that hasty pact because my shadow was looming over you. This wouldn't have happened if…if I had not been so selfish,” Mito explained apologetically.

“Maybe, but it was still my choice to negotiate. I failed to consider that something like this would happen and now I'm paying for it. That's my blunder, not yours,” Naruto told her, “Besides, nobody said I can't be intolerable. This won't be permanent anyway – you'll see, they won't want me around before you know it.”

That apparently calmed Mito down. “I guess so,” she softly said, “When will you leave?”

“Tomorrow,” Naruto answered before releasing a long yawn, “I need to get some sleep…all this Fairy Tail nonsense has left me tired. Can you explain things to Natsuko for me? I'm too tired to repeat the whole story.”

“I'll tell her, but you know she's not going to be happy about it?” Mito told him in a serious tone before she smiled a devious smile, “But I suppose I can cheer her up a bit if I tell her she'll get a whole lot of new playthings.”

“Just don't forget to tell her not to break them,” Naruto chuckled before bidding his sister goodnight and going to his room to get some much-needed rest.

************* Line Break *************

Naruto groaned as he got out of his bed and made his way over to the mirror in a manner that was more befitting of a zombie. He didn't feel well. Feverish, light-headed and nauseous aptly described how he felt right now. He was greeted by his ill-looking reflection when he made it to the mirror.

“Why the hell am I feeling so sick?” he asked himself haphazardly.

He never got sick, never. Not since his first death. He did not get to contemplate the situation further, though; agony erupted through his body, as if he was being devoured from the inside out. He staggered forward and crumpled in pain. The throbbing in his head grew louder and more intense. He struggled to get to his feet, and his vision was hazy. He grasped his head and cried in pain. It took a few moments before he managed to get a hold of himself.

The changes that were taking place in his body, along with the magic ring that formed underneath him and the magic his body was emanating, went unnoticed on him as did Kushina's entrance. All his thoughts were focused on suppressing the agony. It felt like an eternity, but the pain finally began to ebb away slowly. He noticed Kushina standing before him, dressed in a sparkling golden Greek dress, and a golden crown glowing in her long red hair **(1)**. She took his chin in her dainty hand and moved his head up to face her. She looked…pleased?

“What…are you doing?” Naruto panted, still breathing heavily, “Why are you…looking at me like that?”

“Why don't you see for yourself,” Kushina told him smoothly and motioned for the mirror. Despite her usual tone, she clearly sounded satisfied.

His need to know outmatched his instinct to argue, so he did as she told. He looked into the mirror, and went rigid as he laid eyes on his reflection. Fair skin, red hair, violet eyes…he looked like a male version of Kushina!

“What have you done to me?” was Naruto's horrified reaction.

“I bestowed upon you that which you lacked, my son,” Kushina answered simply, “Godhood.”

Naruto's eyes went even wider, “Don't tell me you…”

“Indeed. My golden blood, ritually given, runs through your veins. You, who were once human, are now suffused in the essence of a deity, my very own to be precise,” Kushina confirmed, sounding quite satisfied with the results of her son's god transformation despite her blank tone, “Despite your scars not having vanished in the process, I am pleased, very much so. Now you are truly a child made in my image, body and mind, even more so than your sister.”

“No…” Naruto said hysterically, “…this can't be happening! I'm not like you!”

Kushina frowned, “Deny it as much as you want, but of all my children, you are the most like me. Now you simply look the part and are no longer a lowly human. You should be pleased, my son.”

“I look like an abomination! Was all the suffering you inflicted upon me not enough for you? Every time I look at myself, I will see a male version of the face of the one I despise above all else. That is the _gift_ you gave me! So in case it's not obvious, I. am. not. pleased. at. all!” Naruto spat, trembling and clenching his fists.

“I gave you the greatest of gifts I could possibly give! I gifted you godhood, my very own essence! I merely wished for you to see the world through my eyes, through the eyes of a god rather than those of a mere human! There is no greater expression of my acceptance of you to be had, yet you spit on my graciousness and good intentions instead of feeling privileged as you should!” Kushina ground out, openly frustrated

“Good intentions?!” Naruto repeated incredulously, “You wouldn't even know what good intentions are if they hit you in the face! These…” he held his hand over the scars on his chest, “…are proof of that!”

“Silence!” Kushina snapped angrily and red electricity crackled all over her, “My patience is at an end! Once I'm done punishing you, you shall know your proper place and show me nothing but the utmost respect a goddess of my stature is entitled to.”

 _'I don't care if my magic has_ _n't_ _stabilized yet. The bitch is going down_ _…_ _today!'_ Naruto though with gritted teeth. Not wasting any time, he immediately rounded on Kushina and slammed a Rasengan at her as fast as he could. Unfortunately for him, his fastest was not fast enough – his god transformation had left him in a worse state. Kushina effortlessly caught the Rasengan in her hand and crushed it.

“You challenge me, a goddess? You have disrespected me for the last time, Naruto,” Kushina sneered before exerting her magic power.

The section of the castle where Naruto's room resided was completely blown apart. Naruto was blasted out of the castle and into the woods. He got back to his feet just fast enough to summon a swirling stream of wind around his person with the Wind Release: Wind Wall spell to repel the crimson lightning bolt that was heading for him. A lightning spell would have stood no chance against his wind style magic, but between Kushina's magic power and his condition, the lightning jutsu almost overcame his defense.

 _'Bollocks,'_ Naruto swore, realizing he was not in an advantageous position right now. The transformation that witch had subjected him to was a handicap for all intents and purposes. He had thrown around quite some magic power during his scuffle with Acnologia. It wasn't that much magic power by his standards, but it was more than enough to aggravate his condition, even more so when also adding the absurd amount of magic wasted by his body fighting against the transformation caused by Kushina's blood and transformation. This explained why he was 'sick' and why the transformation was so excruciating. The end result left him with heavily destabilized magic, which consequently mucked up the transformation. His magic was left in a heavily destabilized state – his spells were nowhere near as powerful as they should be. Right now, his best bet was to stall Kushina and buy himself time to fix his body.

Kushina was quick to send a massive orb of crimson fire his way after he tried to create some distance with the Body Flicker Jutsu. He looked around and cursed at the incoming mass of fire. He nicked his thumb and pressed his hand against the ground. **Summoning: Quintuple Rashomon** , five menacing Rashomon gates appeared before him. A formidable defense, for even one gate boasted great defensive properties.

Not wanting to take unnecessary chances, Naruto cast another spell. **Wood Style: Hobi Jutsu** , a wooden, dome-like defensive structure emerged from the ground to shield him. The structure was split down the middle and shaped like a dragon's face. He then proceeded to create a shield of sand around his wood style defense, used his magnet style magic to mix iron sand into the shield to reinforce it, and drenched it with water style magic as a countermeasure against the incoming fire spell.

Kushina's fire spell went straight through the Rashomon gates. The gates were no match for the destructive power and intense heat of the spell. Under normal circumstances the gates would have diverted the fireball's path, but Kushina made sure to remotely direct it at her target. The fireball exploded violently upon impact, releasing a fierce inferno.

Naruto's defense opened up and Naruto surveyed the damage. Half of the island had been reduced to a smoldering crater, and that was supposed to be a casual spell. His outer shield did not hold, but it was just enough to keep his wood style defense from being turned into charcoal. Kushina was immediately upon him before he got any chance to react and hoisted him up by the neck with one hand. She watched her son's futile attempts to break free with her usual stoic expression.

“You shame me. You let your past triumphs go to your head in thinking you can take me on, especially in the state you're in,” Kushina condescendingly said, “now let us see if your claim of cheating death holds any merit.”

Naruto let out a soundless scream as he was burned alive in his mother's grip. Kushina stoically watched on as she reduced her son to cinders until four symbols were released from his chest and settled in position.

“A trap…” Kushina muttered. Something was going to happen here. She doubted her son could muster anything that could beat her, but her strategic mind did not overlook that her son obviously believed would either hurt her…or hinder her. She was in no mood for inconveniences, so she immediately took to the air.

 **Reverse Four Symbols Sealing** , the four symbols formed a large, black sphere around them. Everything caught inside the sphere was drawn in and sealed in Naruto's burnt body, which disappeared with a puff of smoke afterwards.

“Playing games with me, the nerve of that boy,” Kushina frowned as she overlooked the result of her son's spell. The spherical area engulfed by the spell was completely eradicated. A nasty spell indeed. Done with the sight-seeing, she linked her sight to the moon to see where Naruto had gone. As it turned out, he had somehow run off to the mainland.

Naruto had used the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to warp away to a desolate mountain range in the Pergrande Kingdom, Ishgar. He did not want to have his sister get caught up in this. The brief distraction his shadow clone had created bought him just enough time to fix himself up with medical magic. Now he could fight back when his mother catches up with him. He did not need to wait long; a crimson lightning bolt struck and Kushina stood where the bolt hit the ground.

“Took you long enough,” Naruto remarked.

“Enough playing games, Naruto. If you will not fight back, then take your punishment with some dignity,” Kushina said.

“Very well,” Naruto snorted and flared his magic. His eyes turned red as he activated the Rinne Sharingan and a yellow shroud enveloped him – his Ten-Tails Magic Mode, boosted by the Six Paths Sage Mode. Ten tails made formed out of the same yellow magic sprouted from his tailbone.

Kushina watched him with mild interest. Yes, this was more like the boy whose battles she had been observing. She raised her hand, and fired a black-colored energy ball with a golden outline.

Naruto looked bored and warped the energy ball away with the long-range version of Kamui. He immediately released the spell from another Kamui distortion behind Kushina, who just batted her own spell away like one would swat a fly. A second later, the deflected orb reached a nearby mountain and exploded, vaporizing it entirely.

“Let's make this more interesting,” Kushina told her son with a small, but sinister smirk. She clapped her hands together and the area around them was surrounded by an invisible barrier.

The invisible barrier did not go unnoticed on Naruto, who could clearly see it with his eyes. This magic gave off a similar vibe as his Four Violet Flames Formation – a barrier made from pure purple flames that would engulf anyone that touched it in flames. **Scorch Style: Extremely Steaming Murder** , several flaming orbs that resembled small suns formed around Naruto before they homed in on Kushina. These orbs evaporated all the water inside a person's body, leaving the unfortunate sod who got hit by one of them in a mummified state.

Kushina mentally pulled water from the atmosphere to intercept the flaming orbs without moving so much as a finger. The orbs sizzled and turned into steam as the heat was dissipated by the water. Naruto had already reached his target and put his hand on the barrier to destroy it – his Barrier Shattering Jutsu would get rid of this cheap nuisance.

Kushina watched on, curious to see what her wayward son was going to do. If he had not realized that she created a fatal barrier, he'd just be disintegrated and that would be that. Either way, it did not matter. When Naruto placed his hand against the barrier, it cracked and shattered.

 _'So you are not completely hopeless when it comes to the finer nuances of the arcane arts,'_ Kushina thought, keeping this little bit of information in her mind. Somehow her son was able to block her out mentally when she tried to read his mind with telepathy. Commendable, but it would make no difference. With each move she would learn more about her son's abilities and she'd easily decipher every one of them.

Naruto slammed his palm to the ground and used the Animal Path to summon a crowd of giant beasts: a drill-beaked bird; a multi-headed dog; a snake-tailed chameleon; an ox; a rhino; a crustacean; a centipede; a toad; a snake; a clamp; a one-tailed sand tanuki; a two-tailed flaming monster cat; a three-tailed turtle; a four-tailed monkey; a five-tailed dolphin horse; a six-tailed slug; a seven-tailed rhinoceros beetle; and an eight-tailed ushi-oni. Each of them were beasts he had created long ago, and they all had his Rinne Sharingan reflected in their eyes. His vision was linked, he could see through their eyes and coordinate their actions accordingly.

Kushina held her hand out and a golden staff appeared with a bright flash. One end was pointy and had a hook protruding out of the staff. The other end was a broad, ornate ring that looked like a circular version of a crescent due to the opening in the ring. A dark, malachite gemstone floated within the ring. An arc of red lightning ran over the staff when Kushina grasped her weapon of choice. **“Great Chaos Fire Orb,”** she fired a large red fire orb from her staff.

The multi-headed dog charged ahead and intercepted the fireball. The fireball covered the animal in lava, but this simply allowed the dog to multiply itself instead of destroying it. The crustacean created an effective smokescreen to obscure the red-haired goddess' vision by spitting out a large volume of foam-like bubbles with the Water Release: Wild Bubble Wave spell. The clamp began to exude its special mist for Naruto to cast the Demonic Illusion: Steaming Multistoried Building spell to manifest realistic mirages that were indistinguishable from the real thing. The other animals headed in to attack her.

Kushina made a sweeping motion with her hand. **“Dance of Fire,”** a wall of black and red flames erupted and followed the motion of her hand. The flames went straight through the animals.

 _'A mirage? But when…'_ Kushina wondered, _'Off course, the mist. The rest was just a diversion. In that case…'_

The beasts reached Kushina and what commenced was a perfectly coordinated series of attacks. The centipede and snake-tailed chameleon restrained her before she could do anything. The rhino knocked her back with its horn. The snake sent her airborne with its tail, where the drill-beaked bird slammed into her with a powerful dive attack, sending her down for the ox to ram into her. The tanuki used the Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet to bombard her with a highly compressed air ball that exploded upon impact because of the large quantity of magic kneaded into it. The monster cat slashed her with its claws. The turtle rolled into a ball and bulldozed her towards the monkey, who kicked her, allowing the dolphin horse to thrust her up into the air with its horns for the slug to spray her with acid. The rhinoceros beetle moved in to ram her back down towards the ushi-oni, who punched her hard into the path of the toad's Starch Syrup Gun Spell – high-viscosity water that served as an adhesive trap. The beasts then united their tails in a single attack, pummeling the trapped goddess with the intent to crush her. A sole arm could be seen flying from the dust cloud that was whipped up by the unified attack.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he saw his mother's grievously wounded form. This was too easy. His suspicions were confirmed when an earthquake shook the ground. **“Chaos Fire Storm,”** giant pillars of red flames erupted from the ground, leaving more pools of lava behind. **“Outcry!”** more flame pillars followed, although these were more powerful and looked more ominous because of the black and red flames they were made up from. Although he managed to avoid the danger through agility and by taking to the air, his summons were either buried or burnt, and thus dispelled in a matter of moments. His mother appeared down on the ground once the earthquake and eruptions ceased, looking none the worse for wear. He had been played…

Naruto raised his both of his hands to prepare another spell. A small fireball formed in his left hand and a tornado-like mass in his right. **Fire Style: Intelligent Hard Work/Wind Style: Pressure Damage** , he fired both spells. A massive fire-storm erupted, its potency increased by a high-pressure wind blast. The flames traveled across the entire expanse quickly, leaving nothing but scorched earth in its wake.

Kushina pointed her staff forward. **“Grasp of Winter,”** everything within her sight, the fire storm included, was flash frozen.

Naruto avoided being frozen down to a molecular level by teleporting behind Kushina with Amenotejikara. He struck her with the Lightning Cutter. Kushina did not bother to turn around as she mentally condensed the carbon molecules in the air into a diamond shield. She immediately swung her staff, smashing right through the shield. He blocked the attack, but the force still sent him tumbling back.

“ **Flame Swathe,”** a flame ignited right before him on Kushina's command and exploded shortly after. Naruto dashed out of the blast's range. His mother ignited more of the explosive flames and used varying delays between ignition and explosion. Along with tactical placement, it was very tricky for him to dodge the blasts.

Naruto turned around, flying backwards and relying on his sensory abilities to avoid Kushina's attacks. **Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation** , he expelled a stream of fire from his mouth and shaped it into a massive fire-wall that swallowed the exploding flames up.

Kushina conjured an equally massive wall of water with a wave of her hand. The resulting clash of fire and water canceled each other out and produced a great amount of steam.

Naruto clapped his hands together. **Wood Style: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees** , trees instantly grew everywhere on the surface, creating a dense forest of flowering trees that went on for miles. The flowers opened up and began to disperse pollen, effectively prompting his mother to pause her attacks. She had raised her magic barrier, Aegis, to protect herself from being exposed to the debilitating pollen. It was no use, though, for the pollen were slipped right through her barrier. It took only moments for the pollen to take effect as Kushina dropped to her knees. Now it was his turn to return the favor. **Bath of Boiling Oil** , in unison with two shadow clones he expelled a large volume of oil, followed by a stream of wind to propel the oil and a steam of fire to ignite it. The tsunami of superheated oil engulfed Kushina in what was a veritable sea of flames.

To his dismay, Kushina was unharmed within the confines of her magic barrier, Aegis. The pollen had only affected her for a short while – her strength of will was too great to be rendered unconscious. She waved her staff like a wand to fling a massive energy ball Naruto’s way.

 **Water Style: Great Shark Bullet Jutsu** , Naruto created a gigantic shark out of water and sent it to attack Kushina by thrusting both of his hands forward. The spell absorbed the magic from Kushina's spell, growing significantly larger and stronger.

 _'He's trying to use my power against me…'_ Kushina thought with narrowed eyes. She emitted an intense shock-wave to blow the gigantic water shark away.

A long, red lightning bolt formed in Kushina's hand. **“Splintering Lightning Spear,”** she hurled the lightning bolt at Naruto, who allowed the lightning-fast projectile to move through himself, having rendered himself intangible. Soon after, the bolt transformed into a gigantic magic circle spanning the entire expanse. The magic circle spawned an endless rain of lightning strikes, ravaging the landscape. While Naruto's attention was focused on avoiding the electric onslaught, Kushina turned her spell into a pincer attack – with a casual stomp, she caused an equally endless barrage of black lightning bolts to shoot out of the ground.

Naruto gritted his teeth when one of black bolts hit him in the back, stunning him long enough to get hit again. One bolt after another struck him, each hitting him with a million volt. He quickly activated his Lightning Release Magic Mode when he saw a huge blast of lightning come at him from the heavens. The lightning blast burst into a large electric explosion of such brightness, that it was visible across half the kingdom.

Kushina frowned when she saw Naruto negating her Lightning Stake with an armor of lightning magic. She had seen this spell in action before while observing Naruto fighting her eldest daughter, but her Lightning Stake should have been powerful enough to overpower it. She dispelled her staff, letting it dissolve into golden particles and she charged at her son with supersonic speed, lightning-charged fist poised to strike..

Naruto raised his hand. **Water Style: Water Mirror Jutsu** , a large, flat, circular pool of water formed in front of him. The surface acted like a mirror, perfectly reflecting his mother. The reflection emerged and materialized from the mirror, colliding with its mirrored target. The sheer force of the clash tore the ground around them open. Kushina was sent back by the reflection canceling out her attack with equal strength. The reflection dispersed into water.

Kushina teleported herself right in front of Naruto and a fierce melee fight followed. Two blurs sped across the landscape faster than the human eye could perceive, with each clash altering the landscape further. Their intense duel even took them across settlements that were left in ruins once the natural disaster that was the Uzumaki duo passed by. Neither of them could care any less, though, as their minds was focused on their opponent.

Naruto had difficulty keeping up, despite the level he was fighting at. His mother's durability, speed and strength was nothing short of monstrous. Even with his magic-enhanced strength he failed to inflict any damage nor did enveloping his hands in razor-sharp wind style magic work. In fact, this monster was slowly, but steadily overpowering him in terms of brute strength. It didn't matter that he used his ten tails to attack her as well as she blocked them all. If brute force did not work, then he would have to resort to more cunning methods.

Transforming magic within his body, giving it the properties of electricity, he created an electric field. The brief moment he made contact with Kushina when she blocked his palm strike was all he needed. He poured the electricity into her nervous system, severing the signals and deranging her body control.

“!?” Surprise flashed over Kushina's face when her left leg moved instead of her right arm. What had her son done to her? And when? Her mind went into overdrive. Her body wasn't moving like it was supposed to. She tried to defend herself from Naruto's attacks, which didn't work out so well for her even if she did not suffer any damage. It was then that she realized what was going on, _'That's it! He scrambled my body control. Either he manipulated my nervous system or my mind to do so. Creative, but futile. During the last strikes I deciphered the scrambled translation between my commands and my movements.'_

Naruto activated the Byakugan and adopted a stance belonging to a fighting style he called Gentle Fist. **Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms** , he delivered a series of hundred-twenty-eight violent strikes to Kushina's vital points. She surprised him greatly by blocking each and every strike before slamming her fist into his chest, blowing a clean hole through it. He spat a large glob of blood and staggered back. He had no choice but to increase his magic power further, something he had hoped to avoid for the risk of losing control of his magic would proportionally increase.

“Haaaaah!” a light blue aura came to life with a mighty roar and the hole in his chest quickly mended itself. With a thundering punch he hit Kushina in the face hard enough for a sickening crunch to be heard and send her sprawling. He went on to cut many of her tendons with magic scalpels to immobilize her and followed up with another magic-enhanced punch, firmly planting her into the ground and pulverizing the ground into many pieces through the excess shock, which were scattered like flower petals.

Kushina cried as she felt pain for the first time in over two centuries. She used magic to puppeteer her body to bypass the hindrance that her cut tendons pose while she absorbed ambient ethernano to heal her wounds.

 _'I'm…I'm bleeding…'_ Kushina thought, astonished that she had been hurt, _'This is unprecedented. No one has been able to draw blood from me since my ascension.'_

Naruto formed a Rasengan and fired it at Kushina as an energy wave. To his surprise, his attack didn't even touch her while she stood in the middle of the beam. He threw one Rasengan after another at her, but it accomplished nothing. He concentrated and noticed something hidden under the corona of magic that surrounded her, making it difficult to spot. It was some kind of barrier that covered her body. It was obvious that barrier was deflecting his attacks as he could not detect any other magic at play, but he could not draw conclusions about its mechanics just yet. He projected a shadow into Limbo, an invisible world, and had it attack his mother. It turned out that his shadows were no good either; her ability was not limited to deflecting attacks from the physical realm nor to attacks she was aware of.

 _'Now it's all clear to me. She's manipulating vectors. That barrier is an aversion field. Figures she'd do something like that. I'm already exerting this much magic, so I might as well absorb the aversion field away. The Preta Path requires close contact, though. That won't do. In that case…'_ Naruto contemplated as he determined Kushina's spell and how to counter it.

 **Shade Style: Inhaling Maw** , Naruto raised his hand and forcibly extracted the magic that made up Kushina's aversion field and absorbed it, much to her surprise. **Shade Style: Judgement** , he unleashed a torrent of light blue flames from his hand, turning the magic he absorbed back on her with amplified strength after having converted the absorbed magic.

 _'So your ability to absorb magic is not limited to close range…'_ Kushina noted to herself as she put up another Aegis to block her son's spell, _'…but for some reason you are limited in its use; you would have done so earlier and more often if that was not the case. How pitiful.'_

 **White Rage Jutsu** , Naruto expelled a dragon-like entity from his mouth that carried an orb in its left front claw. The orb released both blinding light and deafening sound as the dragon tightly coiled around it.

 _'Ugh, I can't focus…!'_ Kushina realized. The bombardment on her visual and auditory senses alone greatly hindered her as her Aegis could not block her son's spell, but due to the intensity of the resulting vibrations, she also suffered paralyzing pain. Unable to actively concentrate, her Aegis vanished.

Naruto was unaffected by his spell. He had shut his eyes to block the harmful light, relying on his other senses to compensate for his obstructed vision, and had liquefied his insides to negate the effects of the harsh sound vibrations. He created three clones and proceeding to the next stage of his attack.

 **Storm Style: Laser Circus** , a halo of bright energy spread around his hands, encircling them and shooting out a great number of energy beams. He manipulated the direction of the beams to batter Kushina up from multiple sides and pin her down. At the same time, the terrain surrounding her was lowered with the Earth Style: Great Moving Earth Core spell by his clone. His clones then filled the resulting sinkhole with a great amount of quicklime, mixed it with water, and heated the mixture into concrete with fire to trap Kushina. The concrete was infused with a large amount of magic in order to ensure it would hold long enough.

 _'I made a grave error in judgement by taking you too lightly, son. You are no mere bug. You might even be capable of overcoming me,'_ Kushina thought within her confinement, _'I have no choice. Playtime is over. For the fruit of my womb who misguidedly continues to desecrate my divine self…it is time to show the true power of the Golden Goddess.'_

Naruto prepared to charge up a supercharged Tailed Beast Ball to destroy his mother while she had not transformed yet. His eyes narrowed when he saw cracks formed into the concrete trap down below. Golden light shone through the cracks and a massive pillar of light erupted.

“Damn it! She can transform without a blood sacrifice?!” Naruto cursed. That was new to him!

Immense magic power was exerted and from the now-destroyed sinkhole emerged a sight that he had associated with fear back in his younger days: his mother's in her goddess form, shining like a star that illuminated the night sky. Eyes glowing harshly like miniature suns could be seen looking down on him as the luminance she emitted receded into a golden aura. Her Greek dress had morphed into a form-fitting full-length white dress with an ornate golden crest and blue stones around the waist. The design rose to her collar where it split and went around her neck as the clasp of her dress, then going down her back to loop around her waist to the circular crest. She wore bracelets, armlets, earrings and a tiara. She carried a translucent light yellow shawl around her arms, and a veil extended from her tiara of the same design as the shawl **(2)**.

“ **My form is radiance. My form is the world. Revere me. Praise me. This noble and beautiful…immortal and most powerful goddess…Kushina!”** Kushina booming voice declared.

“Prideful bitch, you don't have the slightest idea of what real power is,” Naruto sneered.

Kushina's face settled into an angry snarl and shot laser-like, golden energy beams from her eyes. The beam, which upon contact with the ground caused enormous gold crystal spikes to spawn, swept over the land as far as the eye could reach.

Naruto quickly moved aside to avoid the beam and golden spikes, but more golden spikes extended and branched out from them and captured him. **Vapour Style: Unrivaled Strength** , he increased the temperature of magic beyond the boiling point, generating large amounts of steam. The heat of the steam was so extreme that the gold around him melt right away. He'd use the pressure resulting from the steam to increase the force behind his physical attack and releasing the pressure would also enhance his speed through propulsion. Naruto charged at Kushina, who had already bomb-dived for him the moment he was trapped, and the he met her punch with his steam-enhanced punch. Despite his steam enhancement, he was still send crashing into the ground by his mother's strength, which had become even more monstrous.

Kushina created a field of golden energy around her right hand that looked similar to Naruto's Magic Scalpels, the God Split Cut. She held her right hand out and used the God Split Cut as a medium for firing a continuous barrage of energy blasts, causing great explosions.

 _ **'Persistent like a cockroach,'**_ Kushina scoffed when she saw that Naruto was unharmed once the smoke cleared. She immediately held her right hand up to block Naruto's Amaterasu spell. She had seen her son use this spell on Mito before and despite its speed, the brief moment in which she saw the expression on her son's face change as he focused his sight on her was enough to intercept it. The black flames tried to burn into her God Split Cut, but it failed to do so before she released a pulse of gravity to push the flames away, effectively dispersing them.

Naruto clapped his hands together. **Earth Style: Corpse Soil** , an army of zombies emerged from the ground, formed out of the soil in the ground. The zombies looked like anthropomorphic foxes. He had used an improved version of this spell to amplify the power of the zombies. “Take her flesh, I'll take her soul!” Naruto ordered. At his command, the zombie army began to swarm Kushina.

Kushina was not intimidated by the size of the zombie army and immediately discharged an immense amount of intense lightning in all directions. Much to her chagrin, these zombies absorbed magic. Another one of her son's annoying tricks. Fighting them up close would take too much time and she would not be surprised if these critters would just reform since they were made from soil in the first place.

Spreading both arms out, Kushina opened a giant fissure to dispose of the nuisances her so had conjured, sending them down into a bottomless abyss, and promptly closed the great chasm by clapping her hands together. She then formed a long blade resembling a broadsword out the God Split Cut's aura and rushed at Naruto. She ended up slashing straight through him and quickly whirled around to block a mini Tailed Beast Ball with her blade. With a cry she unleashed a tornado around that cut up anything inside of it to ribbons. Her son remained unaffected by it all. _**'Intangibility,'**_ she concluded.

There were various ways to achieve intangibility, so she began to fire thin beams of various elements at her son from her finger. The beams were so fast that they were virtually impossible to dodge. Everything, be it material or immaterial, passed right through him. On top of the fact that his magic signature completely disappeared when he turned intangible left her to conclude that this was space-time magic.

Naruto attempted to cut his mother's head off with a black-colored Lightning Cutter that was used in unison with Kamui that would warp anything it cut away, moving in without a care under the belief that he could not be touched. And then there was a squelch.

“Wh-what?!” Naruto rasped out, wide-eyed with surprise at the sudden explosion of pain. Kushina's energy blade had impaled him through the liver, _'How did she bypass Kamui?!'_

“ **Don't look so surprised. I have walked this world long before you were even a thought. Compared to me you are ignorant in the ways of the world like an infant in its cradle,”** Kushina condescendingly mocked her son before blasting him back with an energy blast through the stomach, **“It was child's play to alter the frequency with which my magic vibrated in space and synchronize that frequency with your spatial intangibility spell.”**

“ **Naruto…even now in spite of your growth, your actions remain an affront to me. Now…”** Kushina said coldly and she altered the blade's form to become much larger, with a slight curve to give it a resemblance to a large cutlass, **“…take my judgement!”** and she shot forward. She made a series of rapid cuts, shooting out energy javelin-like projectiles from the blade.

“GaAAah!!” Naruto screamed as he was pierced by the projectiles. With an elaborate motion of her blade, Kushina made the projectiles explode.

Naruto fell down to the ground and groaned, _'That last attack really packed a punch. At this rate she's really going to do me in. That can't happen…justice will not wait any longer. I need more magic power!'_

“I won't fall here. I won't be denied justice!” Naruto roared. He increased the output of his magic once more.

Kushina's eyes narrowed and she grit her teeth in anger as she gauged her son's magic power, _**'He increased his magic power again. You continue to disrespect me by prolonging**_ _ **this defiant**_ _ **struggle against me.'**_

Faster than before, Naruto made a dashed for the red-haired goddess to attack her with a Planetary Rasengan – a Rasengan with three smaller Rasengan orbiting around it. The disordered rotations of the individual spheres would form a turbulent wave-like vortex to cause greater damage. Kushina kneed him in one of his vital points before he could even register her doing so despite his acute vision and sensory perception. His next set of attacks were rewarded with more hits to his vital points as well.

 _'What the…? How did she move so fast? I didn't see her move at all,'_ Naruto wondered as he leaped back to attack from a distance. He would have to attack faster than she does.

Kushina did not go after him, just watching him with that infuriating stoic expression of hers. He prepared to blast her with a Tailed Beast Ball, but before he could Kushina had already embedded her fist into his face.

“ **You can increase your power as much as you want, but** **carve this into your mind, o** **nly I am exalted!”** Kushina berated her son. Her tone was blank as ever, but the hubris was definitely there.

 _'From a distance, too?'_ Naruto mentally exclaimed before he realized something, _'Wait a second…she isn't moving faster at all.'_

He attacked Kushina once more with the Rasengan. Kushina snorted at his obdurateness, but this time it was her turn to be surprised – her son had blocked her counter attack and even slammed one of those energy balls of his.

“Didn't see that coming, did you, _Mother_?” Naruto taunted, angering Kushina. She wanted to wipe that smug smirk clean off his face.

“ **Don't get full of yourself because of a fluke. Pride cometh before the fall!”** Kushina shouted.

“Then let's give it another shot,” Naruto said as he made another attack. Again, he blocked Kushina's counter attack and delivered a simple punch in return. **Explosion Style: Landmine Fist** , he used explosion style magic to generate an enormous explosion from Kushina's insides where he made physical contact, severely wounding her.

“Don't look so surprised,” Naruto mocked his mother in the same condescending style she had chided him with before, “You had me guessing there for a moment, but once I realized that you stopped time for one tenth of a second, it was just a matter of predicting your movements and acting accordingly.”

Being mocked made Kushina livid. Though her physical wounds healed quickly, the wound to her pride did not. She formed her God Split Cut again in its broadsword form and made a swift slash for Naruto's neck. She gritted her teeth when he blocked her blade with the back of his hand. Her energy blade suddenly disappeared as Naruto siphoned the magic away.

 **Uzumaki Return** , the absorbed magic was converted into wind style magic and was then abruptly reflected. On reflex, Kushina teleported out of the way of the intense wind blast. She reappeared behind Naruto, but ended up being flung away with great force by an Almighty Push.

A great shadow fell over the landscape and Kushina looked up to see the shadow was caused by a shower of massive meteorites descending. Anyone would be praying to their god to save them, but she was not anyone, she was a goddess and something like this would not stop her! She materialized her God Split Cut again and took off.

“These rain drops are a bit big and hard” Naruto commented as Kushina decided to deal with the meteorites he had pulled down from the upper atmosphere with the Shattering Heaven spell.

He frowned when he saw the red-headed witch slicing the meteorites to ribbons with energy slashes released from that annoying energy blade of hers.

Having just destroyed the last meteorite, Kushina turned her undivided attention back on Naruto, **“I tire of this. This ends now,”** and she stabbed her energy blade into her left hand. Pulling the energy blade back out of her hand, revealing the blade had become a scythe.

Naruto quickly avoided the energy slash Kushina released when she swung her scythe. “If you think something like that is going to…what the?” he began until he looked back and saw the results of her swing – she had cut through time and space, creating a rift. Drawing things out was too risky; he had to resort to more drastic measure to end this as quickly as possible despite risking loss of control over his magic. Not hesitating, he manifested his Tailed Beast Mode, forming a fifty-feet-tall ten-tailed fox avatar made out of the same yellow magic as his magic shroud

He immediately coiled his avatar's tails around himself tightly. **Tailed Beast Ten Twists** , he extended the tails with an enormous amount of physical strength **(3)**. This caused him to spin rapidly, resulting in the generation of tremendous gusts of wind that buffeted everything, his mother included, in the surrounding area. The terrain within a large range around him was leveled by the power of the technique.

Having sent his mother reeling, he wasted no time to leap at her. **Super** **Fang Fox Fang** , he spun his avatar’s body at ferocious speeds to deliver a violent assault upon making contact with Kushina **(** **4** **)**. The ultra-violent rotation created a vacuum vortex in its surroundings that tore anything apart without direct contact.

Kushina caught the giant, spinning fox with her bare hand. She flared her aura and threw Naruto away with a grunt. The only visible signs of Naruto's attack were some shallow cuts on her hand, which healed in an instant. She proceeded to blast her son with an energy beam, sending him crashing into a nearby mountain range.

Naruto quickly got back to his feet and created three shadow clones, each in Tailed Beast Mode. Struggling to hold on to control, he grimaced, _'This is as much as I can manage without losing control over my magic. It will have to do.'_

“ **It doesn't matter if you clone yourself; multiplying by zero will always amount to nothing!”** Kushina's godly voice rumbled upon seeing her son's beast-like constructs race towards her. She slapped her hand to the ground. **“Black Serpents!”** she conjured massive pillars of black flames. Possessing a will of its own, the undulating flames traced the ground, behaving like a snake, writhing towards its prey with a mind to strike.

Naruto and his clones jumped over the giant flames and fired Tailed Beast Balls at the red-haired goddess. Kushina fired four energy balls in response. The black and gold projectiles were smaller in size, but they shot right through the Tailed Beast Balls before hitting him and his clones. The resulting explosions dwarfed his Tailed Beast Mode. Despite the damage to his combat constructs, his momentum did not slow down and he physically struck the red-haired goddess together with his clones.

Kushina blocked the giant fists and tail-strikes with Aegis and then converted her shield into a high-powered, omnidirectional burst of magic that buffeted her assailants away. The giant foxes rushed back to engage Kushina again. Each strike and blast drastically altered the landscape. By the time their fight took them up into the stratosphere, the maps were already in need of being redrawn – in fact, the two of them had turned Ishgar into a separate island as their trail of destruction almost separating the peninsula from the mainland.

To Naruto's great frustration, all his attacks and spells were repelled or evaded by his mother despite his numerical advantage. Kushina then swung her energy scythe and bisected one of the clones who failed to move out of the way of the resulting energy slash in time.

Naruto scowled as Kushina threw her scythe at the clone whose Tailed Beast Mode avatar she had just bisected. The spinning scythe pierced straight through the magic shroud that made up the avatar and hit the clone in the head with its blade. A pillar of golden energy erupted a moment later, obliterating the clone completely.

He gathered an immense amount of magic and clapped his hands together. **Planetary Devastation** , he released a black sphere from his hands which acted as a center of gravity, drawing in everything in its surroundings to create an enormous satellite.

Kushina was drawn in by the extreme gravity as well. _'The gravitational pull is too great to escape. However every spell has a weakness. That sphere is the source of the attractive force. If I destroy it, the gravity will return to normal. The gravitational pull will work in my advantage,'_ she concluded after a quick analysis of her son's spell.

Naruto glowered as his mother destroyed his Planetary Devastation with a barrage of energy balls, _'This isn't working. I will have to pool as much power as I can into singular attacks.'_

Naruto merged his shadow clone's Tailed Beast Mode avatar together with his own, creating a combat avatar with six arms and then equipped Susanoo to it. With two of the construct's hands he created a longbow and arrow that was infused with lightning style magic – Indra’s Arrow. With the other sets of hands he formed two giant Rasenshuriken: a Wind Style: Rasenshuriken in the right hands and a Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken in the left. All three attacks were infused with a massive amount of natural energy. He took aim…and fired.

 _'I can't afford to hold back here; the power behind this spell is unlike any I've seen before._ _I cannot hold back if I am to counter this_ _spell_ _,_ _'_ Kushina thought with genuine amazement. She summoned an immense amount of magic, raised her hands and created a massive red fireball with a rings of fire circling around it, giving it the appearance of a gigantic atom. **“Forbidden Sun,”** she threw the fireball at Naruto.

The attacks clashed, creating an explosion that looked like a massive vortex. The size was such that it could be seen from the entire continent. Were it not for mother and son fighting up in the stratosphere, there would have been more destroyed than just a country-sized portion of the mainland that bordered to the Pergrande Kingdom.

Both Naruto and Kushina plummeted down to Earthland. Naruto grimaced. His Tailed Beast Mode held, albeit barely. The Susanoo was almost stripped away completely in the previous attack. He cursed as Kushina appeared before him again. She was heavily injured, but her wounds regenerated again, leaving her in pristine condition as if nothing had happened.

“ **I must congratulate you for managing to wound me as much as you did. I would praise your potential, if only it was not squandered by your humanity. Now I can only take pride in how this further proves the supremacy of my blood. Such a waste…”** Kushina praised and lamented before hurling arcing bolts of red electricity at Naruto. The intensity was such that what remained of Susanoo was destroyed right away and his Tailed Beast Mode followed soon after.

Naruto screamed as he writhed on the ground as his mother electrocuted him. He mustered all of his will to activate the Preta Path to absorb the lightning. He struggled to stand up and stay up, _‘Ugh, the influx of magic is too great. I can’t maintain control…”_

Kushina watched stoically as her son began to absorb the lightning, only to collapse soon after. From behind, she grabbed him by the neck and drove her right hand through his chest.

“Gwuah!” Naruto cried and spat out blood.

“ **Remember this well as you draw your last breath, foolish child of mine. You were nothing when you were born and you will die as nothing. In the end you were still a mere human** **who failed to ascend** **and a bitter disappointment, and that is a stain on my name I shan’t tolerate,”** Kushina whispered in Naruto’s ear before moving her right hand over his face, **“Let me put you out of your misery…”**

Her hand glowed and a white pillar of light enveloped the two of them. When the pillar vanished, only Naruto’s charred skeleton was left – everything was stripped from bones.

“ **The Divine Pillar of Light that purifies all things graced by its luminance. With this, your sins again** **st** **me are cleansed. You are free of your flawed existence,”** Kushina commented. She stared at her son’s remains for a moment before walking away. It was time to return to her castle. Her work was finished here. A stain on her name was removed.

Out of the blue, a beam of magic punched straight through her chest. Turning around to face the source of the beam, she was left utterly shocked by what she saw. A headless, wraith-like entity composed of pure magic hovered over Naruto’s skeleton.

“ **I…told you so,”** a heavily distorted voice echoed. The wraith formed a head out that resembled Naruto’s, **“I…told you so! I** **cannot die** **!”**

**End of Chapter**

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_**A/N:** _

_**And that’s part one of the confrontation between Naruto and Kushina. His magic is now finally stable, so next chapter it's his turn to shine. At any rate, I hope this part of the fight was satisfying as I think fights are hard to write, especially for a story where the characters have way too many powers. Note that I have retconned Kushina’s use of god magic that’s based on existing gods from mythology as I wanted to emphasize that Kushina’s power is hers and not based on someone else’s.** _

_**And before firing accusations of ripping stuff off, yes, I have used other series as inspiration for this, such as Dragon Ball and Dark Souls.** _

_**(1) Kushina's dress is pretty much the same dress you see Hera wear on the profile picture on her Riordan/Camp Half-Blood Wikia page.** _

_**(2) Kushina's outfit is Cosmos' outfit from Dissidia Final Fantasy.** _

_**(3) This is the same attack Killer B and Gyuki used against Obito and the reincarnated jinchuuriki under his control, except with ten tails instead of eight.** _

_**(4) I changed to name to be fox-themed rather than wolf-themed, but this is the Inuzuka Clan’s jutsu.** _

_**Check out my profile page for the latest status updates on my stories and other announcements.** _


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